# Can Tortoise's get Lyme Disease?



## CtTortoiseMom (Mar 16, 2011)

In Connecticut Lyme Disease is a big problem. It is primarily a bacteria transmitted from a deer tick that makes people very sick, especially if it is not detected in the early stages. It is not uncommon for children to end up in the hospital with spinal meningitis from this disease. Even though we take every preventative measure we can my husband and two of the three dog's we have owned have gotten it. I was trying to google it to see if tortoises can get it and there were not any cases listed. But, I did find an article about tortoises being imported from Africa and having African tics on them. That worries me because I was hoping that maybe the tortoises skin would be too tough for the tic to bite. 

Does anyone know anything about this?


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## Torty Mom (Mar 16, 2011)

Erin, that is a great question!!


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## ALDABRAMAN (Mar 16, 2011)

I have never heard of any that had it.


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## matt41gb (Mar 16, 2011)

I seriously doubt it. Mammals and reptiles really don't share pathogens. Diseases are usually pretty species specific. 

-Matt


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## shellysmom (Mar 16, 2011)

I don't think reptiles can get Lyme disease. It seems to be specific to mammals.


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## exoticsdr (Mar 16, 2011)

They can contract the disease (though, I've never heard of clinical disease in a reptile) and some reptile studies have shown that they (reptiles...i don't know the specific species) can harbour the disease and pass it back to ticks to eventually pass on themselves...though whitetail deer are the main reservoir species. Just keep one thing in mind, as last I knew,...it takes about 5 days of active feeding on the tick's part to transmit the disease. I had heard in the recent past that there may be a study in the making that will contradict this info and possilbly show that it takes less time, but I've yet to read it.

Great question, btw.


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## CtTortoiseMom (Mar 16, 2011)

exoticsdr said:


> They can contract the disease (though, I've never heard of clinical disease in a reptile) and some reptile studies have shown that they (reptiles...i don't know the specific species) can harbour the disease and pass it back to ticks to eventually pass on themselves...though whitetail deer are the main reservoir species. Just keep one thing in mind, as last I knew,...it takes about 5 days of active feeding on the tick's part to transmit the disease. I had heard in the recent past that there may be a study in the making that will contradict this info and possilbly show that it takes less time, but I've yet to read it.
> 
> Great question, btw.



Just to make sure that I understand you correctly... They can contract the disease and perhaps even pass it on to non- infected tick's but they will not become sick from it? If so, that is a relief because I would have no way of protecting her outside.


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## shellysmom (Mar 16, 2011)

Interesting.


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## exoticsdr (Mar 16, 2011)

CtTortoiseMom said:


> exoticsdr said:
> 
> 
> > They can contract the disease (though, I've never heard of clinical disease in a reptile) and some reptile studies have shown that they (reptiles...i don't know the specific species) can harbour the disease and pass it back to ticks to eventually pass on themselves...though whitetail deer are the main reservoir species. Just keep one thing in mind, as last I knew,...it takes about 5 days of active feeding on the tick's part to transmit the disease. I had heard in the recent past that there may be a study in the making that will contradict this info and possilbly show that it takes less time, but I've yet to read it.
> ...



I should probably clarify, they can contract the _Borrelia burgdorferi _organism that causes Lyme Disease in humans and some can harbor the organism so it can be picked up by other ticks and eventually passed on to humans. I do not know what species of reptiles were found to be able to harbor the organism and no mention was made to our shelled friends.

Here is an interesting reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=hh...v=onepage&q=lyme disease in tortoises&f=false


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## CtTortoiseMom (Mar 16, 2011)

Thank's Dr. Westin. That is all good news. I really like how you attached the book and specific page. I am really relieved.


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## matt41gb (Mar 16, 2011)

I can't believe turtles have been found to carry the Leptospirosis bacteria. I guess they live in the right conditions to carry the bacteria. I wonder why we don't hear more about turtles that carry leptospirosis. It's a zoonosis, ( transmitted from animals to people,) so you'd think it would be a huge deal. You only hear about salmonella these days. 

-Matt


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## CtTortoiseMom (Mar 16, 2011)

Re: Leptospirosis, I checked the CDC's website and all it say's is that it is contracted through contaminated water that has been infected by the urine of animal's that have it. It does not name specific animal's. The symptom's sound horrible.


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## matt41gb (Mar 16, 2011)

We've had one dog, (a beagle) die of leptospirosis at the clinic I work at. There have been several other cases in the area, so we've started pushing the vaccine a bit more. 

-Matt


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## exoticsdr (Mar 16, 2011)

matt41gb said:


> I can't believe turtles have been found to carry the Leptospirosis bacteria. I guess they live in the right conditions to carry the bacteria. I wonder why we don't hear more about turtles that carry leptospirosis. It's a zoonosis, ( transmitted from animals to people,) so you'd think it would be a huge deal. You only hear about salmonella these days.
> 
> -Matt



Yes Grasshopper, the world is a wonderous place....hahaha. I had never thought about it until I read that particular reference. You are partially correct in you cross species statement. Most parasites are species specific, i.e. parasites from one species can rarely complete their life cycle in another species...however, that leads to certain problems when parasites get into other species, they can often cause fatal disease that is unseen in their natural host (for examply Baylisascaris procyonis..the racoon roundworm...GOOGLE it..scary stuff). Bacterial infections tend to cause different diseases in different species (i.e. a bacteria that causes respiratory disease in cattle may cause abortions in sheep and encephalitis in swine.


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## matt41gb (Mar 16, 2011)

Thanks for clearing that up for me Doc. Parasites are so interesting to me, especially their life cycles. Feel free to pass on any interesting tidbits of info that I can educate our clients with. I love learning about veterinary medicine and other aspects of it. I'm like a little sponge. 

-Matt


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## Balboa (Mar 16, 2011)

Son of an explicative....that racoon roundworm sounds nasty, stuff right of sci-fi horror. Racoons are everywhere... and 70% or more infected! Ouch.

My father-in-law had a pet racoon as a kid, was a great pet. This makes the prospect scary.


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## Laura (Mar 16, 2011)

5 days to transmit? i thought it was 24 hours...


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## exoticsdr (Mar 17, 2011)

Laura said:


> 5 days to transmit? i thought it was 24 hours...



Like I said, that was the info at one time and there were other studies in the works....I will have to look that up again as it is pertinent info to my everyday work.


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## Madkins007 (Mar 17, 2011)

If you are interested in parasites, try the book Parasite Rex (author's name escapes me). REALLY interesting layperson book on parasites of all kinds!


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