Reservoir frogs: seasonality of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection in robber frogs in Dominica and Montserrat.

ABSTRACT: Emerging infectious diseases are an increasingly important threat to wildlife conservation, with amphibian chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the disease most commonly associated with species declines and extinctions. However, some amphibians can be infected with B. dendrobatidis in the absence of disease and can act as reservoirs of the pathogen. We surveyed robber frogs (Eleutherodactylus spp.), potential B. dendrobatidis reservoir species, at three sites on Montserrat, 2011-2013, and on Dominica in 2014, to identify seasonal patterns in B. dendrobatidis infection prevalence and load (B. dendrobatidis genomic equivalents). On Montserrat there was significant seasonality in B. dendrobatidis prevalence and B. dend

SUBMITTER: Hudson MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6573808 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature