4 diseases that are threatening herps

The world's a pretty hostile place for herps these days, with a number of emerging pathogens threatening the existence of many species of reptiles and potentially all amphibians. Here are four of the worst threats:

1. The big daddy of them all, which some scientists say might wipe out pretty much every amphibian on earth: chytridiomycosis. It's caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. While protocols exist to cure it in the laboratory, the only positive news for animals in the wild is some amphibians may be able to mount an immune response to the fungus. Maybe.

2. Snakes worldwide, mostly in the boid family, have been struck by Inclusion Body Disease, thought to be caused by a retrovirus. The disease is fatal in symptomatic animals, and there's ongoing research into it at the University of Florida.

3. A deadly virus recently diagnosed in box turtles in Southwest Florida and affecting amphibians worldwide: ranavirus.

4. A nasty fungus killing snakes in the Midwestern and Eastern U.S.: Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. The good news: There's a new test for the disease. The bad news: So far, there's no cure, and the fungus seems to outwit all current disinfectants. At great risk is the last eastern massasauga rattlesnake population in Illinois.