title: Detection of the emerging amphibian pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and ranavirus in Russia.
abstract: In a population of the European common toad Bufo bufo from a rural pond in the region of Lake Glubokoe Regional Reserve in Moscow province, Russia, unexplained mass mortality events involving larvae and metamorphs have been observed over a monitoring period of >20 yr. We tested toads from this and a nearby site for the emerging amphibian pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and ranavirus (Rv). Both pathogens were detected, and at the rural pond site, with the above-noted losses and decline in toad breeding success, 40% of B. bufo metamorphs were Bd positive, 46% were Rv positive and 20% were co-infected with both pathogens. Toad metamorphs from a neighbouring water body were also Bd and Rv positive (25 and 55%, respectively). This is the first confirmation of these pathogens in Russia. Questions remain as to the origins of these pathogens in Russia and their roles in documented mass mortality events.
authors.affiliation: Severtsov Ecology & Evolution Institute, Leninskiy 33, Moscow 119071, Russia.
authors.forename: Andrey N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Reshetnikov
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chestnut
authors.forename: Jesse L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: Kaylene
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.forename: Emily E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Nebergall
authors.forename: Deanna H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Olson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002023:Bufo bufo; D008411:Chytridiomycota; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D009181:Mycoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D017995:Ranavirus; D012098:Reproduction; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors