South Carolina copperhead is first snake positive for Snake Fungal Disease in state
A copperhead snake found in Spartanburg County has tested positive for the fungus, Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus linked to Snake Fungal Disease (SFD).
Copperhead snake
Image/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This is the first verified case of Snake Fungal Disease in South Carolina according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
According to the news release, Copperhead Institute scientists retrieved a Copperhead from Spartanburg County that exhibited symptoms of fungal infection. The snake subsequently died and was submitted to the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center, where a necropsy was performed. Results indicate the presence of Snake Fungal Disease and dehydration as the cause of death.
“The emergence of Snake Fungal Disease is of great concern. It is being detected more and more frequently in wild populations,” said S.C. Department of Natural Resources herpetologist Will Dillman. “Those populations may not be well equipped to deal with a novel pathogen. Its association with significant population declines in some species is troubling.”
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease in certain populations of wild snakes in the eastern and midwestern United States. In recent years, cases of this fungal infection have been increasing and this report is evidence that it is spreading south.
