Fish & Wildlife Disease: Reptile Disease
Active
By Biological Threats and Invasive Species Research Program
September 29, 2022
Disease causing pathogens are of concern to human and wildlife health and are frequently the number one reported impairment for water resources in the United States.
Reptile Disease
Reptile Disease
Sea Turtle Diseases
Sea turtles are one of the oldest groups of reptiles and are found worldwide. There are seven species of sea turtles in the world, and Hawaii has two of them, the hawksbill and the far more numerous green turtle. Threats to turtles include by-catch from fisheries activity, over harvesting of eggs on nesting beaches, and disease. Of the latter, the most significant disease of sea turtles is called...
Snake Fungal Disease
Snake fungal disease is an infectious disease confirmed in numerous species of snakes caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola .
Developing Physiological Diagnostics for the Desert Tortoise
The Mojave desert tortoise is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act and faces threats from habitat loss, predators, and disease. Drs. Lizabeth Bowen and A. Keith Miles with WERC are designing new methods to determine the type and influence of stressors present in the environment for the tortoise and other wildlife.
Relocating and Augmenting Desert Tortoise Populations
As resource managers balance the needs of humans and wildlife, WERC’s Dr. Berry provides the necessary science to inform decisions on shared lands. Visit the “Science” tab to delve into specific projects.
Epidemiology of Infectious and Other Diseases in Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise
Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) was listed as threatened in 1990 under the Endangered Species Act. WERC’s Dr. Kristin Berry leads studies on the cause of diseases in populations of Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise across the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts in southern California.
Explore our science using the data below.
Population genetic analysis of the snake-infecting fungus, Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, in the eastern United States
Snake fungal disease (SFD; ophidiomycosis), caused by the pathogen Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo), has been documented in wild snakes in North America and Eurasia, and is a potentially emerging disease in the eastern USA. However, a lack of historical disease data has made it challenging to determine whether Oo is a recent arrival to the USA or whether SFD emergence is due to other factors. Here, w
Tracking the growth of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola over time in natural and sterile soils using quantitative PCR
Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations. The causati
Confirmed cases of snake fungal disease in historical museum specimens
Snake fungal disease (SFD) represents a conservation threat to wild snake populations. The disease was reported in North America early in the 21st century, but the history of SFD has not been investigated. We examined museum specimens and confirmed cases of SFD based on clinical signs, histopathologic lesions, and detection of the causative agent Ophidiomyces ophidiicola. The first confirmed cases
Data from Burmese Pythons swabbed for the presence of SFD-causing Ophidiomyces in southwest Florida
The size and sex of each of the Burmese pythons swabbed in this study for the SFD-causing (snake fungal disease) Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola pathogen is given along with the real time PCR swab result.
Data on serology results for green turtles with and without fibropapillomatosis from Hawaii and Florida
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease associated with a herpesvirus (Chelonid herpesvirus 5-ChHV5) that affects mainly green turtles globally. Understanding the epidemiology of FP has been hampered by lack of robust serological assays to monitor exposure to ChHV5. This is due in part to inability to efficiently culture the virus in vitro for neutralization assays. Here, we expressed two glyc
Chelonid Herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) genomic sequences obtained through long-range PCR and high throughput sequencing from Florida and Hawaii green sea turtles with fibropapillomatosis
The files in this data release are the processed DNA consensus sequence alignment files for the chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV-5) genome plus 66 open reading frames representing protien-coding genes. DNA was extracted from tumor biopsies from green sea turtles (Chelonias mydas) with fibropapillomatosis sampled from Florida and Hawaii coastal waters. We used high-throughput short-read sequencing (Ill
Emerging fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in wild European snakes
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of wild snakes in eastern North America caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Recently, the disease has also been detected in wild snake in Europe. The data presented here describe: 1) culture, PCR, and histopathology results of wild European snakes opportunistically sampled for O. ophiodiicola, 2) colony expansion rates of various isolat
Blood variable data for clinically normal and clinically abnormal Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in 2013
To improve our understanding of health and immune function in tortoises, we evaluated both standard blood diagnostic (body condition, hematologic, plasma biochemistry values, trace elements, plasma proteins, vitamin A levels) and gene transcription profiles in 21 adult tortoises (11 clinically abnormal; 10 clinically normal) from Clark County, NV, USA. Necropsy and histology evaluations from clini
Snake dermatitis data
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of wild snakes in eastern North America caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. The data presented here describe: 1) the types of fungi recovered in culture from the skin of snakes with and without fungal skin infections, 2) the presence or absence of skin lesions in populations of snakes surveyed at several sites in Wisconsin and Minnesota
Estimates of pathogen exposure predict varying transmission likelihood: Host contact and shedding patterns may clarify disease dynamics in desert tortoises Gopherus agassizii
These datasets (S1-S4) document the transmission of a bacterial pathogen (Mycoplasma agassizii) between desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii). The desert tortoises were experimentally introduced in captivity and were used to create and compare models predicting transmission probability given data on the hosts and their interactions. Datasets S1 & S2 include variables describing the individual tort
Explore our science using the publications below.
Filter Total Items: 64
Fibropapillomatosis dynamics in green sea turtles Chelonia mydas over 15 years of monitoring in Akumal Bay, Quintana Roo, Mexico
ABSTRACT: Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease that affects all sea turtle species but is mainly seen in green turtles Chelonia mydas. The pathology of FP has been described extensively, but its dynamics in populations over time have been less studied. We analyzed the dynamics of FP in a population of green turtles in Akumal Bay on the central coast of the Mexican Caribbean. A total of 475
Authors
Fernando A. Muñoz Tenería, Vanessa Labrada-Martagón, Roberto Herrera-Pavón, Thierry M. Work, Erik González Ballesteros, Ana Negrete-Philippe, Gisela Maldonado-Saldaña
Borreliosis transmission from ticks to humans associated with desert tortoise burrows: Examples of tick-borne relapsing fever in the Mojave Desert
Ticks transmit pathogens and parasitize wildlife in turn causing zoonotic diseases in many ecosystems. Argasid ticks, such as Ornithodoros spp., harbor and transmit Borrelia spp., resulting in tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in people. In the western United States, TBRF is typically associated with the bite of an infected Ornithodoros hermsi tick found in habitats at high elevations (>1500 ft).
Authors
Molly J Bechtel, K. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Nathan C Nieto, Jeffrey T. Foster, Mike B Teglas
Soil reservoir dynamics of ophidiomyces ophidiicola, the causative agent of snake fungal disease
Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations. The causati
Authors
Lewis J. Campbell, Joanna Burger, Robert T. Zappalorti, John F. Bunnell, Megan Winzeler, Daniel R. Taylor, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Assessment of disease risk associated with potential removal of anthropogenic barriers to Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) population connectivity
The Mojave Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), federally listed as threatened, has suffered habitat loss and fragmentation due to human activities. Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD), a documented health threat to desert tortoises, has been detected at the Large-Scale Translocation Study Site (LSTS) in southwestern Nevada, US, a fenced recipient site for translocated animals. Our study aimed
Authors
Tristan L. Burgess, Josephine Braun, Carmel L Witte, Nadine Lamberski, Field. Kimberleigh J, Linda J. Allison, Roy C. Averill-Murray, K. Kristina Drake, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Bruce A Rideout
Effects of snake fungal disease on short‐term survival, behavior, and movement in free‐ranging snakes
Pathogenic fungi are increasingly associated with epidemics in wildlife populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD, also referred to as Ophidiomycosis) is an emerging threat to snakes, taxa that are elusive and difficult to sample. Thus, assessments of the effects of SFD on populations have rarely occurred. We used a field technique to enhance detection, Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) telemetry,
Authors
Jennifer M. McKenzie, Steven J. Price, Grant M. Connette, Simon J Bonner, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Low-level detection of SFD-causing Ophidiomyces on Burmese Pythons in southwest Florida, with confirmation of the pathogen on co-occurring native snakes
Snake fungal disease (SFD), or ophidiomycosis, is caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola (Allender et al. 2015; Lorch et al. 2015). SFD is widespread across wild populations in the eastern United States (Lorch et al. 2016) and is known to infect more than 30 species of snake in North America and Europe (Lorch et al. 2016; Franklinos et al. 2017). No known phylogenetic or ecological pattern
Authors
Brad Glorioso, Ian A. Bartoszek, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Caryospora-like coccidia infecting green turtles (Chelonia mydas): An emerging disease with evidence of interoceanic dissemination
Protozoa morphologically consistent with Caryospora sp. are one of the few pathogens associated with episodic mass mortality events involving free-ranging sea turtles. Parasitism of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by these coccidia and associated mortality was first reported in maricultured turtles in the Caribbean during the 1970s. Years later, epizootics affecting wild green turtles in Australia
Authors
Brian A. Stacy, Phoebe A. Chapman, Heather Stockdale-Walden, Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Allen M. Foley, Morgan Wideroff, Jr. Wellehan, April L. Childress, Charles A. Manire, Mya Rodriguez, Trevor T. Zachariah, Lydia Staggs, Bette Zirkelbach, Nina Nahvi, Whitney Crowder, Shane M. Boylan, Shelly Marquardt, Craig Pelton, Terry M. Norton
Evidence of vertical transmission of the snake fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola
Snake fungal disease (ophidiomycosis) is an emerging infection of snakes caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Little is known about mechanisms of this pathogen's transmission and its implications for conservation of wild snake populations. We report four cases with evidence of vertical transmission of O. ophiodiicola from dam to offspring.
Authors
Anne G Stengle, Terence M. Farrell, Keenan S Freitas, Craig M. Lind, Steven J. Price, Brian O Butler, Tigran Tadevosyan, Marcos Isidoro Ayza, Daniel Taylor, Megan Winzeler, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Interactive effects of food supplementation and snake fungal disease on pregnant Pygmy Rattlesnakes and their offspring
In viviparous organisms, the ability to feed while pregnant may mitigate energetic trade-offs experienced during the reproductive process and enhance fecundity. However, anorexia during pregnancy has been reported in many crotaline snakes. The potential costs and benefits of feeding while pregnant are not completely described in the literature, and experimental studies have been conducted in a lim
Authors
Craig M. Lind, Amber Clark, Sarah A Smiley-Walters, Daniel Taylor, Marcos Isidoro Ayza, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Terence M. Farrell
A novel host-adapted strain of Salmonella Typhimurium causes disease in olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the Pacific.
Salmonella spp. are frequently shed by wildlife including turtles, but S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium or lesions associated with Salmonella are rare in turtles. Between 1996 and 2016, we necropsied 127 apparently healthy pelagic olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) that died from drowning bycatch in fisheries and 44 live or freshly dead stranded turtles from the west coast
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Brian A. Stacy, Jason T. Ladner, Jeffrey M. Lorch, George H. Balazs, Elias Barquero-Calvo, Brenda M. Berlowski-Zier, Renee Breeden, Natalia Corrales-Gómez, Rocio Gonzalez-Barrientos, Heather Harris, Gabriela Hernández-Mora, Angel Herrera-Ulloa, Shoreh Hesami, T. Todd Jones, Juan Alberto Morales, Terry M. Norton, Robert Rameyer, Daniel Taylor, Thomas B. Waltzek
Report of the technical expert workshop: Developing recommendations for field response, captive management, and rehabilitation of sea turtles with fibropapillomatosis
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease of sea turtles that primarily manifests as tumors of the skin. Strandings of green turtles with this disease have dramatically increased in the Southeast U.S. over the last decade, necessitating a review of various practices related to the capture, handling, and treatment of afflicted turtles. NOAA and USFWS hosted a workshop in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sept
Authors
Brian Stacy, Allen M. Foley, Thierry M. Work, Anne Lauritsen, Barbara Schroeder, Stacy A. Hargrove, Jennifer L. Keene
Complex immune responses and molecular reactions to pathogens and disease in a desert reptile (Gopherus agassizii)
Immune function plays an important role in an animal's defense against infectious disease. In reptiles, immune responses may be complex and counterintuitive, and diagnostic tools used to identify infection, such as induced antibody responses are limited. Recent studies using gene transcription profiling in tortoises have proven useful in identifying immune responses to various intrinsic and extrin
Authors
K. Kristina Drake, Christina M. Aiello, Lizabeth Bowen, Rebecca L. Lewison, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Shannon C. Waters, Peter J. Hudson
Disease causing pathogens are of concern to human and wildlife health and are frequently the number one reported impairment for water resources in the United States.
Reptile Disease
Reptile Disease
Sea Turtle Diseases
Sea turtles are one of the oldest groups of reptiles and are found worldwide. There are seven species of sea turtles in the world, and Hawaii has two of them, the hawksbill and the far more numerous green turtle. Threats to turtles include by-catch from fisheries activity, over harvesting of eggs on nesting beaches, and disease. Of the latter, the most significant disease of sea turtles is called...
Snake Fungal Disease
Snake fungal disease is an infectious disease confirmed in numerous species of snakes caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola .
Developing Physiological Diagnostics for the Desert Tortoise
The Mojave desert tortoise is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act and faces threats from habitat loss, predators, and disease. Drs. Lizabeth Bowen and A. Keith Miles with WERC are designing new methods to determine the type and influence of stressors present in the environment for the tortoise and other wildlife.
Relocating and Augmenting Desert Tortoise Populations
As resource managers balance the needs of humans and wildlife, WERC’s Dr. Berry provides the necessary science to inform decisions on shared lands. Visit the “Science” tab to delve into specific projects.
Epidemiology of Infectious and Other Diseases in Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise
Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) was listed as threatened in 1990 under the Endangered Species Act. WERC’s Dr. Kristin Berry leads studies on the cause of diseases in populations of Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise across the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts in southern California.
Explore our science using the data below.
Population genetic analysis of the snake-infecting fungus, Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, in the eastern United States
Snake fungal disease (SFD; ophidiomycosis), caused by the pathogen Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo), has been documented in wild snakes in North America and Eurasia, and is a potentially emerging disease in the eastern USA. However, a lack of historical disease data has made it challenging to determine whether Oo is a recent arrival to the USA or whether SFD emergence is due to other factors. Here, w
Tracking the growth of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola over time in natural and sterile soils using quantitative PCR
Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations. The causati
Confirmed cases of snake fungal disease in historical museum specimens
Snake fungal disease (SFD) represents a conservation threat to wild snake populations. The disease was reported in North America early in the 21st century, but the history of SFD has not been investigated. We examined museum specimens and confirmed cases of SFD based on clinical signs, histopathologic lesions, and detection of the causative agent Ophidiomyces ophidiicola. The first confirmed cases
Data from Burmese Pythons swabbed for the presence of SFD-causing Ophidiomyces in southwest Florida
The size and sex of each of the Burmese pythons swabbed in this study for the SFD-causing (snake fungal disease) Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola pathogen is given along with the real time PCR swab result.
Data on serology results for green turtles with and without fibropapillomatosis from Hawaii and Florida
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease associated with a herpesvirus (Chelonid herpesvirus 5-ChHV5) that affects mainly green turtles globally. Understanding the epidemiology of FP has been hampered by lack of robust serological assays to monitor exposure to ChHV5. This is due in part to inability to efficiently culture the virus in vitro for neutralization assays. Here, we expressed two glyc
Chelonid Herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) genomic sequences obtained through long-range PCR and high throughput sequencing from Florida and Hawaii green sea turtles with fibropapillomatosis
The files in this data release are the processed DNA consensus sequence alignment files for the chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV-5) genome plus 66 open reading frames representing protien-coding genes. DNA was extracted from tumor biopsies from green sea turtles (Chelonias mydas) with fibropapillomatosis sampled from Florida and Hawaii coastal waters. We used high-throughput short-read sequencing (Ill
Emerging fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in wild European snakes
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of wild snakes in eastern North America caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Recently, the disease has also been detected in wild snake in Europe. The data presented here describe: 1) culture, PCR, and histopathology results of wild European snakes opportunistically sampled for O. ophiodiicola, 2) colony expansion rates of various isolat
Blood variable data for clinically normal and clinically abnormal Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in 2013
To improve our understanding of health and immune function in tortoises, we evaluated both standard blood diagnostic (body condition, hematologic, plasma biochemistry values, trace elements, plasma proteins, vitamin A levels) and gene transcription profiles in 21 adult tortoises (11 clinically abnormal; 10 clinically normal) from Clark County, NV, USA. Necropsy and histology evaluations from clini
Snake dermatitis data
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease of wild snakes in eastern North America caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. The data presented here describe: 1) the types of fungi recovered in culture from the skin of snakes with and without fungal skin infections, 2) the presence or absence of skin lesions in populations of snakes surveyed at several sites in Wisconsin and Minnesota
Estimates of pathogen exposure predict varying transmission likelihood: Host contact and shedding patterns may clarify disease dynamics in desert tortoises Gopherus agassizii
These datasets (S1-S4) document the transmission of a bacterial pathogen (Mycoplasma agassizii) between desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii). The desert tortoises were experimentally introduced in captivity and were used to create and compare models predicting transmission probability given data on the hosts and their interactions. Datasets S1 & S2 include variables describing the individual tort
Explore our science using the publications below.
Filter Total Items: 64
Fibropapillomatosis dynamics in green sea turtles Chelonia mydas over 15 years of monitoring in Akumal Bay, Quintana Roo, Mexico
ABSTRACT: Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor disease that affects all sea turtle species but is mainly seen in green turtles Chelonia mydas. The pathology of FP has been described extensively, but its dynamics in populations over time have been less studied. We analyzed the dynamics of FP in a population of green turtles in Akumal Bay on the central coast of the Mexican Caribbean. A total of 475
Authors
Fernando A. Muñoz Tenería, Vanessa Labrada-Martagón, Roberto Herrera-Pavón, Thierry M. Work, Erik González Ballesteros, Ana Negrete-Philippe, Gisela Maldonado-Saldaña
Borreliosis transmission from ticks to humans associated with desert tortoise burrows: Examples of tick-borne relapsing fever in the Mojave Desert
Ticks transmit pathogens and parasitize wildlife in turn causing zoonotic diseases in many ecosystems. Argasid ticks, such as Ornithodoros spp., harbor and transmit Borrelia spp., resulting in tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in people. In the western United States, TBRF is typically associated with the bite of an infected Ornithodoros hermsi tick found in habitats at high elevations (>1500 ft).
Authors
Molly J Bechtel, K. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Nathan C Nieto, Jeffrey T. Foster, Mike B Teglas
Soil reservoir dynamics of ophidiomyces ophidiicola, the causative agent of snake fungal disease
Wildlife diseases pose an ever-growing threat to global biodiversity. Understanding how wildlife pathogens are distributed in the environment and the ability of pathogens to form environmental reservoirs is critical to understanding and predicting disease dynamics within host populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging conservation threat to North American snake populations. The causati
Authors
Lewis J. Campbell, Joanna Burger, Robert T. Zappalorti, John F. Bunnell, Megan Winzeler, Daniel R. Taylor, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Assessment of disease risk associated with potential removal of anthropogenic barriers to Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) population connectivity
The Mojave Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), federally listed as threatened, has suffered habitat loss and fragmentation due to human activities. Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD), a documented health threat to desert tortoises, has been detected at the Large-Scale Translocation Study Site (LSTS) in southwestern Nevada, US, a fenced recipient site for translocated animals. Our study aimed
Authors
Tristan L. Burgess, Josephine Braun, Carmel L Witte, Nadine Lamberski, Field. Kimberleigh J, Linda J. Allison, Roy C. Averill-Murray, K. Kristina Drake, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Bruce A Rideout
Effects of snake fungal disease on short‐term survival, behavior, and movement in free‐ranging snakes
Pathogenic fungi are increasingly associated with epidemics in wildlife populations. Snake fungal disease (SFD, also referred to as Ophidiomycosis) is an emerging threat to snakes, taxa that are elusive and difficult to sample. Thus, assessments of the effects of SFD on populations have rarely occurred. We used a field technique to enhance detection, Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) telemetry,
Authors
Jennifer M. McKenzie, Steven J. Price, Grant M. Connette, Simon J Bonner, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Low-level detection of SFD-causing Ophidiomyces on Burmese Pythons in southwest Florida, with confirmation of the pathogen on co-occurring native snakes
Snake fungal disease (SFD), or ophidiomycosis, is caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola (Allender et al. 2015; Lorch et al. 2015). SFD is widespread across wild populations in the eastern United States (Lorch et al. 2016) and is known to infect more than 30 species of snake in North America and Europe (Lorch et al. 2016; Franklinos et al. 2017). No known phylogenetic or ecological pattern
Authors
Brad Glorioso, Ian A. Bartoszek, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Caryospora-like coccidia infecting green turtles (Chelonia mydas): An emerging disease with evidence of interoceanic dissemination
Protozoa morphologically consistent with Caryospora sp. are one of the few pathogens associated with episodic mass mortality events involving free-ranging sea turtles. Parasitism of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by these coccidia and associated mortality was first reported in maricultured turtles in the Caribbean during the 1970s. Years later, epizootics affecting wild green turtles in Australia
Authors
Brian A. Stacy, Phoebe A. Chapman, Heather Stockdale-Walden, Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Allen M. Foley, Morgan Wideroff, Jr. Wellehan, April L. Childress, Charles A. Manire, Mya Rodriguez, Trevor T. Zachariah, Lydia Staggs, Bette Zirkelbach, Nina Nahvi, Whitney Crowder, Shane M. Boylan, Shelly Marquardt, Craig Pelton, Terry M. Norton
Evidence of vertical transmission of the snake fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola
Snake fungal disease (ophidiomycosis) is an emerging infection of snakes caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Little is known about mechanisms of this pathogen's transmission and its implications for conservation of wild snake populations. We report four cases with evidence of vertical transmission of O. ophiodiicola from dam to offspring.
Authors
Anne G Stengle, Terence M. Farrell, Keenan S Freitas, Craig M. Lind, Steven J. Price, Brian O Butler, Tigran Tadevosyan, Marcos Isidoro Ayza, Daniel Taylor, Megan Winzeler, Jeffrey M. Lorch
Interactive effects of food supplementation and snake fungal disease on pregnant Pygmy Rattlesnakes and their offspring
In viviparous organisms, the ability to feed while pregnant may mitigate energetic trade-offs experienced during the reproductive process and enhance fecundity. However, anorexia during pregnancy has been reported in many crotaline snakes. The potential costs and benefits of feeding while pregnant are not completely described in the literature, and experimental studies have been conducted in a lim
Authors
Craig M. Lind, Amber Clark, Sarah A Smiley-Walters, Daniel Taylor, Marcos Isidoro Ayza, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Terence M. Farrell
A novel host-adapted strain of Salmonella Typhimurium causes disease in olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the Pacific.
Salmonella spp. are frequently shed by wildlife including turtles, but S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium or lesions associated with Salmonella are rare in turtles. Between 1996 and 2016, we necropsied 127 apparently healthy pelagic olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) that died from drowning bycatch in fisheries and 44 live or freshly dead stranded turtles from the west coast
Authors
Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Brian A. Stacy, Jason T. Ladner, Jeffrey M. Lorch, George H. Balazs, Elias Barquero-Calvo, Brenda M. Berlowski-Zier, Renee Breeden, Natalia Corrales-Gómez, Rocio Gonzalez-Barrientos, Heather Harris, Gabriela Hernández-Mora, Angel Herrera-Ulloa, Shoreh Hesami, T. Todd Jones, Juan Alberto Morales, Terry M. Norton, Robert Rameyer, Daniel Taylor, Thomas B. Waltzek
Report of the technical expert workshop: Developing recommendations for field response, captive management, and rehabilitation of sea turtles with fibropapillomatosis
Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease of sea turtles that primarily manifests as tumors of the skin. Strandings of green turtles with this disease have dramatically increased in the Southeast U.S. over the last decade, necessitating a review of various practices related to the capture, handling, and treatment of afflicted turtles. NOAA and USFWS hosted a workshop in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sept
Authors
Brian Stacy, Allen M. Foley, Thierry M. Work, Anne Lauritsen, Barbara Schroeder, Stacy A. Hargrove, Jennifer L. Keene
Complex immune responses and molecular reactions to pathogens and disease in a desert reptile (Gopherus agassizii)
Immune function plays an important role in an animal's defense against infectious disease. In reptiles, immune responses may be complex and counterintuitive, and diagnostic tools used to identify infection, such as induced antibody responses are limited. Recent studies using gene transcription profiling in tortoises have proven useful in identifying immune responses to various intrinsic and extrin
Authors
K. Kristina Drake, Christina M. Aiello, Lizabeth Bowen, Rebecca L. Lewison, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Shannon C. Waters, Peter J. Hudson