Consistency of published results on the pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Madagascar: Formal comment on Kolby et al. Rapid response to evaluate the presence of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) and ranavirus in wild amphibian populations in Madagascar

A recent paper by Kolby et al. [1], surveying for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and ranavirus in Madagascar, presents results for 508 amphibian specimens and 68 water bodies sampled during a 2-month period of the 2013-14 wet season. Kolby et al. [1] did not detect Bd in any of the samples, presenting evidence that add to our understanding of Bd dynamics in Madagascar. Earlier in 2015, we published "Widespread presence of the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in wild amphibian communities in Madagascar" in the journal Scientific Reports [2]. We presented rigorous spatial and temporal surveillance data for 4,155 amphibians sampled across a 10-year period, and used two independent molecular diagnostics to demonstrate the occurrence of a molecular signature of Bd infection at multiple locations across the island.We focus here on solely the Bd results, which directly relate to our published study.