Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal)
What is batrachochytrium salamandrivorans?
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is a fungal chytridiomycete pathogen (related to Bd) that has been found infecting native salamanders in Europe, causing them to exhibit disease (chytridiomycosis) and die in mass numbers. It is hypothesized that Bsal invaded Europe through the Asian salamander pet trade (in Asia Bsal has been found to occurs without causing mortality). So far Bsal has not reached North America, which harbors the majority of the world's salamander species (see AmphibiaWeb).
To learn more about Bsal, please see AmphbiaWeb's Bsal webpage or read our recent review article (Yap et al. 2017 in our publications page).
Sharing data on pathogen distribution and dynamics
Working through AmphibiaWeb, we have developed a shared, open-access data portal for all amphibian diseases
The Amphibian Disease Portal
STUDENT NETWORK FOR PATHOGEN SURVEILLANCE (SNAPS) - We are joining forces to help monitor for this pathogen, please visit our website:
