TY - JOUR AU - Rendle, Matthew Edwin AU - Tapley, Benjamin AU - Perkins, Matthew AU - Bittencourt-Silva, Gabriela AU - Gower, David J. AU - Wilkinson, Mark PY - 2015/10/31 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Itraconazole treatment of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) infection in captive caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) and the first case of Bd in a wild neotropical caecilian JF - Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research JA - JZAR VL - 3 IS - 4 SE - Articles DO - 10.19227/jzar.v3i4.112 UR - https://jzar.org/jzar/article/view/112 SP - 137-140 AB - <p align="justify">Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis</p><p><em><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><em></em>(<em>Bd</em>) is the causative agent of the disease amphibian chytridiomycosis, one of the factors driving amphibian population declines. <em>Bd </em>infections are treatable in at least some cases, but in the Gymnophiona has been little reported, and restricted to heat treatment in the form of increased environmental temperature. We report the successful treatment of <em>Bd</em> infection in the terrestrial African caecilian <em>Geotrypetes seraphini</em> and the prophylactic treatment of the aquatic neotropical caecilian <em>Potomotyphlus kaupii</em>, using 30 minute immersions in a 0.01% solution of the antifungal itraconazole over a period of 11 days. Previously only recorded in wild African Gymnophiona, our report of <em>Bd </em>in <em>P. kaupii </em>is not only the first record of infection in a wild aquatic caecilian but also in a caecilian of neotropical origin. To improve our understanding of the impact of <em>Bd</em> on caecilians, <em>Bd</em> isolates should be obtained from wild caecilians in order to ascertain what lineages of <em>Bd</em> infect this order. In addition, more wild individuals should be subjected to<em> Bd</em> diagnostic surveys, including in Asia where caecilians have not yet been subject to such surveys.</span></em></p> ER -