With many snake populations already in decline scientists worry the fungal disease could wipe out certain species entirely.
CARMEL, CA — It’s an increasingly alarming wildlife mystery. Scientists are monitoring an emerging infectious fungus that is horribly disfiguring and killing snakes across the country. The snake fungal disease has spread in Europe, Asia and the eastern United States. It’s also been found as far west as California.
“We initially diagnosed it in a snake in 2009 in Illinois. And since that point, it's been found in over 35 states in the U.S. And right now, California is right on the front lines of where that emergence is occurring,” said Allender. “It was swelling of the head that was really disfiguring to the point where the fungus would invade the eye and we'd start to get granulomas and white cheesy material,” said Allender.
Clifford, a senior veterinarian at the wildlife health lab with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said so far, the state has seen two confirmed cases.
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