Murray State University student researchers say a recent field study found some snakes caught in far west Kentucky tested positive for an emerging fungal disease that could be devastating to snakes across the state and country.
Snake Fungal Disease (SFD) was first identified by New Hampshire researchers in 2006, when the fungus killed off about half of a timber rattlesnake population. It typically grows on the snake’s scales, creating lesions on the snake’s body. If it penetrates the scales into the snake’s blood, it can be deadly.
Murray State Undergraduate Student Gage Barnes helped lead field researchers in catching snakes at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area and Calloway County. He presented his work Wednesday at the Watershed Studies Institute Research Symposium on campus. Nine snakes out of 46 snakes captured, about 20 percent, tested positive for Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the fungus responsible for SFD.
Barnes said while there’s not much known about the fungus, the potential ecosystem impact could be significant because of the role snakes serve as predators.
“In general, snakes have a lot of things going against them -- habitat destruction, human persecution,” Barnes said. “Now with this fungal pathogen, it’s just another thing that could be decreasing snake populations.”
The mortality rate of the disease varies between different species of snake, but researchers say rattlesnakes appear to be particularly vulnerable.
It’s also unknown exactly how widespread or common the disease is in snakes. This isn’t the first confirmed case of SFD in the state. University of Kentucky biologists found a snake with the fungal disease in central Kentucky in 2014.
The United State Geological Survey reports SFD has been confirmed in 23 states and one Canadian province. The Tennessee Wildlife Agency released a 2017 report that found 14 species of snake tested positive for the fungus across 16 Tennessee counties.
Barnes said one theory researchers have is that the fungus has always been present in the environment, but that wetter conditions due to climate change is contributing to its growth.
“That’s why it’s kind of considered emerging. It’s probably most likely always been here. It’s just that the climatic shift is causing the new developments,” Barnes said.
Barnes plans to test more snakes in LBL this summer.