Ranavirus infection in native amphibians at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica: The first report of ranavirus in Central America

Background/Question/Methods

Ranaviruses are globally widespread group of iridoviruses capable of causing mass mortality events in amphibian populations, and are acknowledged to be a significant threat to amphibian populations in many parts of the world.  Central America hosts a diverse, unique, and highly threatened amphibian fauna, yet there has been little effort to describe presence, systematics, host range, or impacts to hosts or populations of Ranaviruses.  In this study, we examined toe clips from 104 individuals of twelve different species of amphibians collected at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica.  

Results/Conclusions

Utilizing quantitative PCR methodology, we detected the presence of ranavirus in four of these samples all from a single direct developing species, Craugastor bransfordii.  We are currently conducting work on a larger dataset at the same location and have found additional positive samples.  These same individuals were also sampled for the amphibian chytrid fungus (known to be present at the site) to determine any patterns in co-infection.  Future work will investigate the impacts of ranavirus to Costa Rican amphibian species.