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Story summary
- Researchers sampled over 500 wild snakes in South Carolina and Florida and documented extensive pathogen infections.
- Salmonella enterica infected 63% of the snakes.
- Ophidiomyces ophidiicola was found in over 30% of snakes with lesions but only 2% without lesions.
- Mycoplasma spp., an antibiotic-resistant bacterium, appeared in 18% of snakes, the first U.S. wild-snake record.
- Forty-four percent of snakes harbored pathogens, with 29% carrying two, 11% three, and 3% four infections.
