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Volume 27, Number 7—July 2021
Research Letter

Confirmed Cases of Ophidiomycosis in Museum Specimens from as Early as 1945, United States

Jeffrey M. LorchComments to Author , Steven J. Price, Julia S. Lankton, and Andrea N. Drayer
Author affiliations: US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (J.M. Lorch, J.S. Lankton); University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA (S.J. Price, A.N. Drayer)

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Table

Museum snake specimens with clinical signs of ophidiomycosis that were subjected to histopathologic examination and PCR specific for Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, United States*

Snake species Museum accession no. Museum collection State collected Date collected Ophidiomycosis histopathology PCR result† Ophidiomycosis diagnosis‡
Crotalus horridus UWZH 22773 UWZM WI 1958 Aug Positive Positive Confirmed
C. horridus UWZH 23927 UWZM TN 1973 Apr 13 Positive Negative Apparent
C. horridus UWZH 23930 UWZM TN 1973 Apr 13 Positive Negative Apparent
Cemophora coccinea UWZH 13833 UWZM FL 1945 Positive Positive Confirmed
Lampropeltis triangulum UWZH 22583 UWZM WI 1982 Apr 25 Positive Negative Apparent
Pantherophis spiloides UWZH 23931 UWZM TN 1973 Apr 13 Positive Positive Confirmed
Agkistrodon contortrix 582 MSUMC KY 1979 Oct 29 Equivocal§ Negative Possible
Coluber constrictor 603 MSUMC KY 1980 May 6 Positive Negative Apparent
C. constrictor 632 MSUMC KY 1980 May 16 Negative Negative Possible
Regina septemvittata 496 MSUMC KY 1979 May 30 Equivocal Negative Possible
R. septemvittata 511 MSUMC KY 1979 Jun 2 Equivocal Negative Possible
R. septemvittata 634 MSUMC KY 1980 May 18 Equivocal Negative Possible

*MSUMC, Morehead State University Museum Collection; Oo, Ophidiomyces ophidiicola; UWZM, University of Wisconsin Zoology Museum. †Samples are listed as positive if >1 PCR assay targeting the internal transcribed spacer region or mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene was positive. See Appendix 1 for assay-specific results. ‡Based on Baker et al. (5). §Equivocal indicates some histologic features consistent with ophidiomycosis were present but >1 diagnostic features were not observed (Appendix 1)[[ANCHOR###T1######Anchor]].

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References
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Page updated: June 17, 2021
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