Disease update from the Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference and the World Congress of Herpetology, Kuching, Malaysia, August 2024
| Authors: | Deanna H. Olson, Jenna Palmisano, Paul M. Evans, Kathryn L. Ronnenberg, Michelle R. Christman, Rachel M. Goodman, Matthew J. Gray, Martel An, Frank Pasmans |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Type: | Scientific Journal |
| Station: | Pacific Northwest Research Station |
| Source: | Herpetological Review. 55(4): 499-506. |
Abstract
Herpetofaunal diseases were a dominant theme in meeting rooms at the Borneo Convention Center in Kuching, Malaysia, where the 2024 Global Amphibian and Reptile Disease Conference (GARD24: Fig. 1) convened with the 10th World Congress of Herpetology (WCH10), 5–9 August 2024. Disease topics were addressed in 133 abstracts, representing 9% of all joint-meeting submissions (available online; Das 2024), covering work on 15 categories of disease agents across 34 nations. Although diseases are natural components of ecosystems, this relatively large proportion of amphibian and reptile disease papers reflects recent advances in understanding the distribution and impact of pathogens and parasites, along with rising concern for emerging herpetofaunal diseases affecting novel species and geographies that are contributing to population declines (Langwig et al. 2015; Luedtke et al. 2023; Bletz et al. 2024). Preplanning to gauge interest in disease presentations at this joint meeting aided coordination of sessions and ensured a broad representation of speakers and topics. GARD24 travel grants facilitated attendance by 25 students and early-career professionals from 21 countries (Healthy Amphibian Trade Team 2024), adding diverse perspectives and content to three days of GARD24 oral sessions. To allow access to presentations, GARD24 talks were recorded by delegates from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA (available online; Healthy Amphibian Trade Team 2024). Additional disease presentations were scheduled in oral and poster sessions of the WCH10, where talks on diverse herpetological topics convened concurrently across 14 meeting rooms. Adjoining hallways offered poster viewing and networking opportunities for ca. 1500 conference delegates. Herein, we provide examples that illustrate the breadth and depth of presentations on herpetofaunal disease agents (including micro- and macro-parasites) and discuss challenges and next steps for international herpetofaunal disease research. Our summary omits presentations on general topics of microbiome communities, immunology, and toxicology where infectious pathogens as disease agents were not specified in the abstracts. Although the World Health Organization has categorized snakebite envenoming as a disease (WHO 2019), we did not include this topic in our synthesis.