The small town of Cocullo, in the province of L’Aquila (Abruzzi, Italy), is the house of an ancient religious tradition: every year, from mid-March to late April, experienced snake hunters (named serpari) collect snakes in the wild. The collected animals are then exposed during the traditional celebration in honor of San Domenico, on May 1st.  

Starting from 2019, this peculiar tradition offered the possibility to study the health conditions of the local snake community, composed of 4 species: Elaphe quatuorlineata, Hierophis viridiflavus, Zamenis longissimus and Natrix helvetica. The investigation was mainly focused on ophidiomycosis, an emerging disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola. Affected individuals usually show cutaneous signs, including abnormal scales, desquamation, swelling, skin thickening, brownish crusts, nodules and ulcerations. While the disease normally has sublethal effects on adults, it may be lethal for newborns and juveniles. 

The distribution of ophidiomycosis has been extensively studied in North America; its incidence and diffusion in Europe, and in particularly in Italy, are less known. In 2019, every specimen captured by the serpari (n=129) was examined by a scientific committee that identified the species, evaluated sex and age, and measured SVL and weight. In addition, each snake underwent a close physical examination to detect skin lesions and other signs of ophidiomycosis. Swabs were taken from 23 individuals showing clinical signs of potential infection in order to test for the presence of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola genomic DNA. 

Even though the PCR analyses did not detect fungal DNA in the collected swabs, the authors can not rule out the possibility of false negatives or of infection levels lower than the detection limit. Despite not providing conclusive evidence of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola infection in wild snakes from Abruzzi, the study provided an opportunity to set the foundation of a long-lasting cooperation between scientists and citizens, whose outcome will be a better understanding of the distribution of the disease in the local snake populations.

The full study, that will be published in the next issue of Acta Herpetologica, is available here.

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