Infectious diseases are influenced by interactions between host and pathogen, and the number of infected hosts is rarely homogenous across the landscape. Areas with elevated pathogen prevalence can maintain a high force of infection and may indicate areas with disease impacts on host populations. However, isolating the ecological processes that result in increases in infection prevalence and intensity remains a challenge. Here we elucidate the contribution of pathogen clade and host species in disease hotspots caused by Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, the pathogen responsible for snake fungal disease, in 21 species of snakes infected with multiple pathogen strains across 10 countries in Europe. We found isolated areas of disease hotspots in a landscape where infections were otherwise low. O. ophidiicola clade had important effects on transmission, and areas with multiple pathogen clades had higher host infection prevalence. Snake species further influenced infection, with most positive detections coming from species within the Natrix genus. Our results suggest that both host and pathogen identity are essential components contributing to increased pathogen prevalence.

1st Zoological Department Herpetological Collection Natural History Museum Vienna Austria

5 N Karazin Kharkiv National University Kharkiv Ukraine

Balaton Limnological Research Institute Tihany Hungary

Bavarian State Collection of Zoology Munich Germany

Biological Sciences Department Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg VA USA

BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics Biodiversity and Land Planning CIBIO Campus de Vairão Vairão Portugal

Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé ULR CNRS UMR 7372 Villiers en Bois France

CIBIO Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos InBIO Laboratório Associado Campus de Vairão University of Porto Vairão Portugal

Department of Comparative Anatomy Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research Jagiellonian University Cracow Poland

Department of Environmental Sciences Section of Conservation Biology University of Basel Basel Switzerland

Department of Genetics Kazimierz Wielki University Bydgoszcz Poland

Department of Geoinformatics and Cartography Institute of Geography and Regional Development Faculty of Earth Sciences and Environmental Management University of Wroclaw Wroclaw Poland

Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology Institute of Biology Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Hungary

Department of Wildlife Conservation Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Science Cracow Poland

HUN REN ELTE MTM Integrative Ecology Research Group Budapest Hungary

Info fauna Karch Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune Neuchâtel Switzerland

Institute of Animal Pathology University of Bern Bern Switzerland

Institute of Biology University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Switzerland

Le Grand Momesson Bouvron France

LPO Bourgogne Franche Comté Site de Franche Comté Maison de l'environnement de BFC Besançon France

MME BirdLife Hungary Budapest Hungary

NATRIX Herpetological Association Wroclaw Poland

School of Life Sciences Arizona State University Tempe AZ USA

U S Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center Madison WI USA

Zamenis Civic Association Karlovy Vary Czech Republic

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Commun Biol. 2024 Jun 25;7(1):767. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06424-x. PubMed

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