Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of conservation concern in eastern North America. Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the causative agent of SFD, has been isolated from over 30 species of wild snakes from six families in North America. Whilst O. ophiodiicola has been isolated from captive snakes outside North America, the pathogen has not been reported from wild snakes elsewhere. We screened 33 carcasses and 303 moulted skins from wild snakes collected from 2010-2016 in Great Britain and the Czech Republic for the presence of macroscopic skin lesions and O. ophiodiicola. The fungus was detected using real-time PCR in 26 (8.6%) specimens across the period of collection. Follow up culture and histopathologic analyses confirmed that both O. ophiodiicola and SFD occur in wild European snakes. Although skin lesions were mild in most cases, in some snakes they were severe and were considered likely to have contributed to mortality. Culture characterisations demonstrated that European isolates grew more slowly than those from the United States, and phylogenetic analyses indicated that isolates from European wild snakes reside in a clade distinct from the North American isolates examined. These genetic and phenotypic differences indicate that the European isolates represent novel strains of O. ophiodiicola. Further work is required to understand the individual and population level impact of this pathogen in Europe.

Conservation Science Group Department of Zoology University of Cambridge The David Attenborough Building Cambridgeshire CB2 3QZ UK

Department of Ecology and Diseases of Game Fish and Bees University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Brno Czech Republic

Froglife 1 Loxley Peterborough Cambridgeshire PE4 5BW UK

IDEXX Laboratories Limited Grange House Sandbeck Way Wetherby West Yorkshire LS22 7DN UK

Institute of Zoology Zoological Society of London Regent's Park London NW1 4RY UK

Naturemetrics Unit 2 Littleton House Littleton Road Ashford Surrey TW15 1UU UK

Public Health England Myrtle Road Bristol BS2 8EL UK

School of Biosciences Cardiff University Cardiff CF10 3AX Wales UK

University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT UK

US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center Madison Wisconsin 53711 USA

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Contribution of host species and pathogen clade to snake fungal disease hotspots in Europe