Pilot survey reveals ophidiomycosis in dice snakes Natrix tessellata from Lake Garda, Italy.

ABSTRACT: Ophidiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo). To date, Oo presence or associated disease condition has been recorded in wild and/or captive snakes from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, but the data is still scarce outside the Nearctic. Although Italy is a country with a high snake biodiversity in the European panorama, and animals with clinical signs compatible with Oo infection have been documented, to date no investigations have reported the disease in the wild. Therefore, a pilot survey for the Italian territory was performed in conjunction with setting up a complete diagnostic workflow including SYBR Green-based real-time PCR assay for the detection of Oo genomic and mitochondrial DNA combined with histopathology of scale

SUBMITTER: Marini D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10485108 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature