Sensitivity of histology for the detection of the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Histology is often underappreciated for the detection of the amphibian pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the cause of the potentially lethal skin disease chytridiomycosis. We evaluated the sensitivity of histology to detect chytrids in 20 wild specimens of 2 frog species from Uruguay that were clinically normal, but confirmed by PCR to be infected by B. dendrobatidis. We detected maturing and sporulated sporangia in 15 of 20 (75%) frogs, which is more sensitive than previously reported for histology. The effort needed to identify chytrids in histologic skin sections of Physalaemus henselii and Pleurodema bibroni required examination of 3.2 and 8.7 mm of skin sections for each frog species, respectively.