There’s been quite a bit of concern about white-nose syndrome affecting the local bat population. Now it seems certain reptiles may be developing a similar problem . . .
Scientists may have found a link between two deadly fungal infections. Researchers have taken a closer look at snake fungal disease and have found that it’s eerily similar to the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats.
The snake fungus, in this case, is called Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. It possesses traits that allows it to persist across a range of habitats and infect multiple species.
“The fungus killing these snakes is remarkably similar in its basic biology to the fungus that has killed millions of bats,” said Andrew Miller, one of the authors of the new study, in a news release. “It occurs in the soil, seems to grow on a wide variety of substances, and it possesses many of the same enzymes that make the bat fungus so persistent.”