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Sustained Ranavirus Outbreak Causes Mass Mortality and Morbidity of Imperiled Amphibians in Florida

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Abstract

A persistent 2-month long outbreak of Ranavirus in a natural community of amphibians contributed to a mass die-off of gopher frog tadpoles (Lithobates capito) and severe disease in striped newts (Notophthalmus perstriatus) in Florida. Ongoing mortality in L. capito and disease signs in N. perstriatus continued for 5 weeks after the first observation. Hemorrhagic disease and necrosis were diagnosed from pathological examination of L. capito tadpoles. We confirmed detection of a frog virus 3 (FV3)-like Ranavirus via quantitative PCR in all species. Our findings highlight the susceptibility of these species to Rv and the need for long-term disease surveillance during epizootics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Folt (USGS) and L. Brendel (UF) for helping with sample collection, the staff of the Histology Laboratory at University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine for slide preparation, and the staff at Ordway-Swisher Biological Station for facilitating this work. Sampling was carried out under the permission of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC-LSSC-17-00031B) and the University of Florida’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (#201810502). We thank members of the Longo Lab, S. Cassidy, and two anonymous reviewers for their feedback on previous drafts of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Arik M. Hartmann & Ana V. Longo

  2. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Max L. Maddox

  3. Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    Robert J. Ossiboff

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  1. Arik M. Hartmann
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  4. Ana V. Longo
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Correspondence to Arik M. Hartmann.

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Hartmann, A.M., Maddox, M.L., Ossiboff, R.J. et al. Sustained Ranavirus Outbreak Causes Mass Mortality and Morbidity of Imperiled Amphibians in Florida. EcoHealth 19, 8–14 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-021-01572-6

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