Herpetofaunal Disease Factsheets & Resources

Save Our Amphibians & Reptiles: How YOU Can Reduce the Spread of Disease

Help our herpetofauna by taking these simple steps to reduce the spread of disease. For more information, please see this disinfection guide by NEPARC.

PARC Products by National Disease Task Team

• Amping up Biosecurity for Herps; The Wildlife Professional (2023)
• Disinfection Protocols for Herpetofaunal Pathogens (2023)
• Guidance on Designing Surveillance Studies for Herpetological Pathogens
• New Disease Risk Paper: Why you need to wear and change gloves and not co-house animals
• Report observations of sick or dying amphibians or reptiles
• Enhanced Between-Site Biosecurity to Minimize Herpetofaunal Disease-Causing Pathogen Transmission

Herpetofaunal Disease Fact Sheets

• Herp Rehab Guidelines (2022)
• Aural Abscesses (2022)
• Amphibian Disease Portal (2024)
• Bd Chytridiomycosis (2022)
• Bsal (2022)
• Blowfly Myiasis (2024)
• Frog Deformities (2022)
• Global Ranavirus Reporting System (2024)
• Ranavirus (2022)
• Severe Perkinsea Infection (2024)
• Snake Fungal Disease (2022)
• Snake Lung Parasite (2023)
• Sea Turtle Mortality (2022)

Disease Task Team Webinars

Since 2021, the PARC Disease Task Team has been working to provide webinars on herpetofaunal diseases in North America. You can find the playlist with all of the webinars here.

• Bsal Basics: Better Together Webinar (2022)
• Field Biosecurity 101 (2022)
• Management of North American Herpetofaunal Diseases (2021)
• Ranavirus: Threat of Aquatic Wildlife (2023)
• Pesky Pentastomes: Parasitic Crustaceans Coming to a State Near You (2023)
• Protistan Pathogen Perkinsea Webinar (2024)

PARC Products by Regional Disease Task Teams

• Environmental DNA (eDNA) Sampling for Amphibian Pathogens (SEPARC 2016)
• Guidance on Investigating Amphibian and Reptile Mortalities (SEPARC 2017)
• Snake Fungal Disease (Ophidiomycosis) in Southeastern Snake Populations (SEPARC 2021)
• Disinfection of Field Equipment Protocol (NEPARC 2022)
• Ranavirus FAQ (NEPARC 2014)

Bsal (Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans)

• The North American Bsal Task Force
  • Bsal Strategic Plan & Rapid Response Template
  • Bsal Guidance for State Wildlife Action plans
• Bsal Factsheet (2022)
• Salamander chytrid fungus (Bsal) briefing paper

Useful Websites

• Amphibian Disease Portal
• Association of Reptile and Amphibian Vets: ARAV
• USGS ARMI
• Global Ranavirus Consortium

Other Resources

• OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals
• Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry
• The AAZV infectious Disease Manual