Question: Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans symptoms

For those in the know, are skin lesions always present with Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans infection? Ghent University describes lesions and deep ulcerations all over the body, anorexia, apathy and neurological symptoms including loss of voluntary movement and muscle coordination.

Is it possible to have the neurological symptoms without any obvious skin problems? What should keepers be looking out for?

I only ask because I have a newt that had displayed sudden neurological deterioration but otherwise looks completely healthy. I don’t know whether to get it tested or not.

Thanks.

To be on the safe side, I'd get it checked, but I always see frogs, especially really active ones like American bullfrogs and various tree-frogs get neurological disorders, could it be due to if coming into some blunt force trauma? Did you accidentally drop it or something? That's my two cents though, I'll wait for other experienced members to chime in though

All studies I've read report skin lesions to be the most characteristic sign of B.s. infection. That said, I haven't read any studies that cover symptoms of B.s. in infected salamanders outside of Salamandra.

Infection causing neurological deterioration without the presence of skin lesions sounds highly unlikely, but possible since I can imagine the fungus might be able to infect and spread throughout skin cells without killing them in non-Salamandra species. I haven't seen any reports of B.s. exhibiting that behavior though.

That's my take on the situation, but if you do get your newt tested let us know the results and how you'll plan to treat it. I've read that the disease can be heat treated, but it's only been tested with Salamandra to my knowledge.

Cameron

P.S. If anyone does know of any studies covering B.s. symptoms in other groups of salamanders, please link them. I haven't found much on B.s. in other salamanders and I'm interested in learning more.

Mark said:

For those in the know, are skin lesions always present with Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans infection? Ghent University describes lesions and deep ulcerations all over the body, anorexia, apathy and neurological symptoms including loss of voluntary movement and muscle coordination.

Is it possible to have the neurological symptoms without any obvious skin problems? What should keepers be looking out for?

I only ask because I have a newt that had displayed sudden neurological deterioration but otherwise looks completely healthy. I don’t know whether to get it tested or not.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi Mark,

Please excuse me if I'm mistaken, but are you talking about a straightforward PCR test? Just a suggestion, but it's a good idea to get full body histopathology (microscopic examination of tissues) on your newt, particularly if it was a long term captive. It should pick up chytrid anyway (although maybe not species) and would also give you a lot more information about the general health of the animal.

Unfortunately it would be more expensive, but would give you a lot more info on the general state of the newt. If it's a recent acquisition perhaps not so useful, but to check that your husbandry isn't causing unforeseen body changes it's very helpful info.

Hope this helps,

Bruce

Thanks for the replies.

Some background. The newt in question is a juvenile, only a few months out of the water and approximately 3cm in length - not a long term captive. It was housed in an enclosure with around 100 of its siblings, none of which are displaying any symptoms of illness. It's been over a week since the discovery of the sick animal.

I found it lying on it's back and when I righted it it was instantly clear that it couldn't walk or raise it's head. It's skin is free from lesions and it has good weight suggesting it was feeding normally prior to its sudden demise.

Perhaps there is a slim chance it climbed to the top of its enclosure and dropped on its head, damaging the neck or spine, but a 3cm newt is pretty lightweight and the drop would be not much more than a foot.

I'm not overly concerned about husbandry issues. With the numbers involved I would expect greater losses if I was doing something wrong. Their housing and diet is no different to my other newts.

I was mainly concerned with ruling out Bsal but a full body examination would be useful. In the 20+ years I've kept newts I've not seen an animal go from apparently healthy to almost total loss of motor function so quickly.

I think it would be prudent for us to collate as much information about Bsal symptoms as possible. For many keepers a resource like this forum is the first place they come to for help with a sick newt and identifying Bsal symptoms early is vital in the battle against this disease. At the moment this info appears to be in the hands of scientists.

Mark said:

I only ask because I have a newt that had displayed sudden neurological deterioration but otherwise looks completely healthy. I don’t know whether to get it tested or not.

Click to expand...

Is it an Alpine newt by any chance? I've seen two young Alpines show symptoms that I guessed were neurological, one was bred by me and the other someone else. the one I had was fie until about two or three months after morphing. It was suddenly unable to swim straight and sometimes swam in corkscrew shapes. It was better on land, but still had problems.I euthanased it in the end as it was obviously deteriorating slowly