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Abstract
Fungal diseases have caused devastating die-offs in wildlife and plants, posing serious threats to conservation. Pathogenic fungi became a well-recognized threat among amphibians with chytridiomycosis, bats with white-nose syndrome, and – more recently among snakes with ophidiomycosis. The growing concern over ophidiomycosis has brought needed attention to free-ranging snake health. However, most research has focused solely on the causative agent of ophidiomycosis, Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo), with minimal research on other infectious threats to snake health. For this reason, my dissertation examined snake health through multipathogen surveillance and assessment of ophidiomycosis risk factors, using both field studies and experimental infections with Oo. Chapter 2 describes a pioneering study to conduct multipathogen surveillance of a variety of agents in various stages of emergence, and to evaluate the effects of coinfection on Oo detection and disease presentation in free-ranging snakes from the southeastern United States. Chapter 3 presents a unique study approach to analyze hematological parameters in free-ranging snakes in relation to detection of multiple infectious agents. Chapter 4 introduces a novel experimental approach in snakes with Oo infection, to induce immunosuppression using dexamethasone, assessing its impact on disease severity and the immune response over time. Together, these studies addressed knowledge gaps in ophidiomycosis susceptibility, other infectious threats to free-ranging snake health, and the role of coinfections in Oo detection and disease. My dissertation provides a framework for understanding free-ranging snake health to inform conservation management and reveal trends in pathogen presence and dynamics.