Early Warning System

In the fight against Bsal, developing an early warning system is of the essence in delimiting cases of amphibian infection and avoiding further dissemination of disease. These are the aspects of the early warning system designed by the Bsal project.

Regional hotlines

Regional hotlines in the EU have been established. These hotlines have set up a passive surveillance system by spreading information about Bsal to regional stakeholders (e.g owners of captive collections) and collecting suspected cases of Bsal. The contact information for the project partners for reporting dead or sick amphibians can be found on the country-specific hotline pages on this website.

Central diagnostic lab

Ghent University centralizes data about Bsal outbreaks and monitoring. We perform diagnostic qPCR and histopathology to confirm positive cases. If you want to add data, please contact Prof. Dr. An Martel (an.martel@ugent.be).

EU Network of Diagnostic Centres

Our network of diagnostic centres in the EU, capable of diagnosing Bsal, currently consists of 16 labs in 12 countries. During the course of this project, webinars and instruction videos on the aetiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, pathology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Bsal will be available upon subscription. Laboratories which have participated successfully in the ring test for Bsal can be found here. If your lab is interested in participating in the the ring test in order to join our diagnostic network, please contact Prof. Dr. An Martel (an.martel@ugent.be)

European network of stakeholders

A European network of stakeholders (including NGOs) that will engage in reporting salamander/newt population declines is also being developed. Contact with individuals and institutions in 20 countries has already been established.