HEMATOLOGY IN AN EASTERN MASSASAUGA (SISTRURUS CATENATUS) POPULATION AND THE EMERGENCE OF OPHIDIOMYCES IN ILLINOIS, USA.

Disease events are threatening wildlife populations across North America. Specifically, mortality events due to Ophidiomyces (snake fungal disease; SFD) have been observed recently in snakes in Illinois, US. We investigated the health of a population of eastern massasaugas ( Sistrurus catenatus ) in south-central Illinois using 1) a meta-analysis of hematologic findings from 2004, 2011, 2013, and 2014; 2) a determination of the prevalence of SFD in snakes examined in 2013 and 2014; and 3) the examination of 184 museum specimens collected from 1999-2013 for signs and presence of SFD.