Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans: The North American Response and a Call for Action

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is an emerging fungal pathogen that has caused recent die-offs of native salamanders in Europe and is known to be lethal to at least some North American species in laboratory trials [1]. Bsal appears to have originated in Asia, and may have been introduced by humans into wild populations in Europe through commercial trade of amphibians [1]. Since the first outbreaks of Bsal in the Netherlands, it has been the etiologic agent of mortality events in Belgium (wild) and Germany (captivity), and was recently found in imported salamanders in the United Kingdom [1–4]. Substantial concern has been raised about the associated risk of Bsal to native salamanders in North America [5]. Herein, we review what policy actions are occurring in North America and elsewhere, and call for creation of a North American Bsal Strategic Plan.