Few diseases are reported in salamanders. Two notable exceptions are infections by Ranavirus and Ichthyophonus. Except for mortality events associated with ranaviruses in tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) and spotted salamanders (A. maculatum), dieoffs of salamanders are rarely detected or reported. Diseases presented in this chapter are those encountered in free-living salamanders of the United States and Canada. A few additional diseases that are occasionally seen in captive and zoo animals have been reviewed by Green (2001). This chapter on Diseases of Salamanders will address five common infectious diseases of free-living larval and adult salamanders: Ranavirus (iridovims) infection, chytrid fungal infection, ichthyophoniasis, Clinostomum metacercaria, chiggers. Many helminthic parasites infect salamanders, but with few exceptions, these infections are unlikely to cause illness (morbidity) or death (mortality). Readers are referred to parasitology texts for a review of protozoan, helminthic and ectoparasitic organisms of amphibians (Flynn, 1973; Poynton and Whitaker, 2001).
