Terbinafine hydrochloride in ethanol effectively clears Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in amphibians

Published source details Bowerman J., Rombough C., Weinstock S.R. & Padgett-Flohr G.E. (2010) Terbinafine hydrochloride in ethanol effectively clears Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in amphibians. Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, 20, 26-28.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

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	Use antifungal treatment to reduce chytridiomycosis infection Action Link

Use antifungal treatment to reduce chytridiomycosis infection

A replicated, controlled study of six amphibian species naturally infected with chytridiomycosis in the USA (Bowerman et al. 2010) found that treatment with terbinafine hydrochloride in ethanol was effective at curing infection in all animals. All bullfrogs Rana catesbeiana, California tiger salamanders Ambystoma californiense, foothills yellow-legged frogs Rana boylii, black-eyed litter frogs Leptobrachium nigrops, Malaysian horned frogs Megophrys nasuta and Cranwell’s horned frogs Ceratophrys cranwelli treated with 0.01% or 0.005% solutions tested negative for chytrid after 3–4 weeks. However, those treated with 0.0005% solution and all control animals remained infected. There were no adverse effects from daily exposure to solution up to 0.01% for up to 15 minutes over 10 days. Amphibians were tested for chytrid before and after treatment. Wild-caught bullfrogs were randomly assigned to four treatments comprising a five minute bath in terbinafine HCl in ethanol: at 0.01% for five consecutive days (n = 14), at 0.005% for six treatments over 10 days (n = 18), as the previous treatment but kept in a 0.0005% solution between treatments, and a control group. Six or seven individuals of the five other (captive or wild caught) species received five minute baths on five consecutive days of: 0.005%, 0.0005% or distilled water.