Working with industry stakeholders can help protect captive and wild amphibians against infection
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A deadly disease has nearly wiped out one of Europe’s native salamanders—and scientists and regulators are working hard to keep it from hopping across the Atlantic.
Known as Bsal, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (literally, meaning salamander eater) is a fungal pathogen that has all but eliminated wild fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) populations in the Netherlands. Bsal is closely related to Bd (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), another chytrid fungus that has reached pandemic status and has been implicated in the decline of at least 500 amphibian species worldwide. While Bd is an amphibian generalist, Bsal tends to infect salamanders. The U.S. has 221 native salamander species—more than any other country—and several have shown susceptibility to Bsal in lab trials.
