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Hi,
Sibi had a chance to offer the reference to the paper she mentioned. Sibi's concern was adenovirus, the paper is about cryptosporidiosis.
***********
Vet Parasitol. 2010 May 28;170(1-2):14-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.01.039. Epub 2010 Feb 4.
Cryptosporidiosis caused by two distinct species in Russian tortoises and a pancake tortoise.
Griffin C, Reavill DR, Stacy BA, Childress AL, Wellehan JF Jr.
Source
Griffin Avian and Exotic Veterinary Hospital, 2100 Lane Street, Kannapolis, NC 28083, USA.
Abstract
Cryptosporidiosis in squamates is well documented, but there is very limited information available on cryptosporidiosis in testudines. We describe three cases of cryptosporidiosis in tortoises with associated pathology. Two Russian tortoises (Agrionemys [Testudo] horsfieldii) and a pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri), all from separate collections, were found dead. At necropsy, two had histological evidence of intestinal cryptosporidiosis and one had gastric cryptosporidiosis. Consensus Cryptosporidium sp. PCR and sequencing was used to identify the Cryptosporidium sp. present in these three tortoises. In the juvenile Russian tortoise with gastric cryptosporidiosis, the organism had 98% homology with a previously reported sequence from an Indian star tortoise isolate. A second chelonian Cryptosporidium sp. was identified in the pancake tortoise and the second Russian tortoise. This sequence was 100% identical to a shorter gene sequence previously reported in a marginated tortoise. This is the first report coordinating pathology with Cryptosporidium characterization in chelonians. The two Cryptosporidium sp. found in tortoises segregate according to site of infection, and there may be further differences in pathology, host range, and transmission. These Cryptosporidium sp. appear to be able to infect diverse tortoise host species. This may be an under-recognized problem in tortoises.
*************
Adenovirus is a virus disease, while crypto is a protozoan. Your tortoise is sick either way, but these are very different kinds of diseases.
***************
Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation July 2009 vol. 21 no. 4 415-426
Systemic Adenovirus Infection in Sulawesi Tortoises (Indotestudo Forsteni) Caused by a Novel Siadenovirus
Sam Rivera, James F. X Wellehan Jr., Rita McManamon, Charles J. Innis, Michael M. Garner, Bonnie L. Raphael, Christopher R. Gregory, Kenneth S. Latimer, Carlos E. Rodriguez, Orlando Diaz-Figueroa, Annajane B. Marlar, Akinyi Nyaoke, Amy E. Gates, Kelly Gilbert, April L. Childress, Guillermo R. Risatti, Salvatore Frasca Jr.8
Abstract
A novel siadenovirus was identified in the Sulawesi tortoise (Indotestudo forsteni). A group of 105 Sulawesi tortoises was obtained by the Turtle Survival Alliance. Many of the tortoises were in poor health. Clinical signs included anorexia, lethargy, mucosal ulcerations and palatine erosions of the oral cavity, nasal and ocular discharge, and diarrhea. Initial diagnostic tests included fecal testing for parasites, complete blood count and plasma biochemical analysis, mycoplasma serology, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for intranuclear coccidia and chelonian herpesvirus. Treatment included administration of antibiotics, antiparasitic medications, parenteral fluids, and nutritional support. Tissue samples from animals that died were submitted for histopathologic evaluation. Histopathologic examination revealed systemic inflammation and necrosis associated with intranuclear inclusions consistent with a systemic viral infection in 35 tortoises out of 50 examined. Fecal testing results and histopathologic findings revealed intestinal and hepatic amoebiasis and nematodiasis in 31 animals. Two of 5 tortoises tested by PCR were positive for Chlamydophila sp. Aeromonas hydrophila and Escherichia coli were cultured from multiple organs of 2 animals. The mycoplasma serology and PCR results for intranuclear coccidia and chelonian herpesvirus were negative. Polymerase chain reaction testing of tissues, plasma, and choanal/cloacal samples from 41 out of 42 tortoises tested were positive for an adenovirus, which was characterized by sequence analysis and molecular phylogenetic inference as a novel adenovirus of the genus Siadenovirus. The present report details the clinical and anatomic pathologic findings associated with systemic infection of Sulawesi tortoises by this novel Siadenovirus, which extends the known reptilian adenoviruses to the chelonians and extends the known genera of reptilian Adenoviridae beyond Atadenovirus to include the genus Siadenovirus.
******************
There has also been a suggestion in another post recently under the thread area of 'Vendor review' that a case of coccidia protozoan was responsable for some animal deaths.
The protozoan diseases have direct life cycles (your tortoise can re-infect itself over and over and over), so cleanliness in your cage is very important. Even outside enclosures are susceptible.
<http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~samacha/CareF/SickF/Protozo/Proto2.html>
Just take it for granted they all have something going on that is a potential disease process, and that keeping the enclosures clean, like the way you might shovel a sidewalk in the snow, while it is snowing, it has got to be a ritual that is carried out often.
It is also very nearly impossible to pin down how a disease got into your animal. Animal biosecurity is the product of all actions undertaken by an entity to prevent introduction of disease agents into a specific area. I do not have a perfect system myself, but I do have a plan to prevent as much disease processes as possible.
Rubber/latex/nitrile gloves are a big part of it. Not so expensive, several years supply is cheaper than one dead tortoise. Use some cleaner on all surfaces on a regular basis.
Even if you only have one animal, it can be lethal to itself as a carrier of a protozoan with a direct life cycle.
I just so dislike reading when someone has a health issue outbreak, and their animal dies. I don't intend to be preachy.
Will
Sibi had a chance to offer the reference to the paper she mentioned. Sibi's concern was adenovirus, the paper is about cryptosporidiosis.
***********
Vet Parasitol. 2010 May 28;170(1-2):14-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.01.039. Epub 2010 Feb 4.
Cryptosporidiosis caused by two distinct species in Russian tortoises and a pancake tortoise.
Griffin C, Reavill DR, Stacy BA, Childress AL, Wellehan JF Jr.
Source
Griffin Avian and Exotic Veterinary Hospital, 2100 Lane Street, Kannapolis, NC 28083, USA.
Abstract
Cryptosporidiosis in squamates is well documented, but there is very limited information available on cryptosporidiosis in testudines. We describe three cases of cryptosporidiosis in tortoises with associated pathology. Two Russian tortoises (Agrionemys [Testudo] horsfieldii) and a pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri), all from separate collections, were found dead. At necropsy, two had histological evidence of intestinal cryptosporidiosis and one had gastric cryptosporidiosis. Consensus Cryptosporidium sp. PCR and sequencing was used to identify the Cryptosporidium sp. present in these three tortoises. In the juvenile Russian tortoise with gastric cryptosporidiosis, the organism had 98% homology with a previously reported sequence from an Indian star tortoise isolate. A second chelonian Cryptosporidium sp. was identified in the pancake tortoise and the second Russian tortoise. This sequence was 100% identical to a shorter gene sequence previously reported in a marginated tortoise. This is the first report coordinating pathology with Cryptosporidium characterization in chelonians. The two Cryptosporidium sp. found in tortoises segregate according to site of infection, and there may be further differences in pathology, host range, and transmission. These Cryptosporidium sp. appear to be able to infect diverse tortoise host species. This may be an under-recognized problem in tortoises.
*************
Adenovirus is a virus disease, while crypto is a protozoan. Your tortoise is sick either way, but these are very different kinds of diseases.
***************
Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation July 2009 vol. 21 no. 4 415-426
Systemic Adenovirus Infection in Sulawesi Tortoises (Indotestudo Forsteni) Caused by a Novel Siadenovirus
Sam Rivera, James F. X Wellehan Jr., Rita McManamon, Charles J. Innis, Michael M. Garner, Bonnie L. Raphael, Christopher R. Gregory, Kenneth S. Latimer, Carlos E. Rodriguez, Orlando Diaz-Figueroa, Annajane B. Marlar, Akinyi Nyaoke, Amy E. Gates, Kelly Gilbert, April L. Childress, Guillermo R. Risatti, Salvatore Frasca Jr.8
Abstract
A novel siadenovirus was identified in the Sulawesi tortoise (Indotestudo forsteni). A group of 105 Sulawesi tortoises was obtained by the Turtle Survival Alliance. Many of the tortoises were in poor health. Clinical signs included anorexia, lethargy, mucosal ulcerations and palatine erosions of the oral cavity, nasal and ocular discharge, and diarrhea. Initial diagnostic tests included fecal testing for parasites, complete blood count and plasma biochemical analysis, mycoplasma serology, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for intranuclear coccidia and chelonian herpesvirus. Treatment included administration of antibiotics, antiparasitic medications, parenteral fluids, and nutritional support. Tissue samples from animals that died were submitted for histopathologic evaluation. Histopathologic examination revealed systemic inflammation and necrosis associated with intranuclear inclusions consistent with a systemic viral infection in 35 tortoises out of 50 examined. Fecal testing results and histopathologic findings revealed intestinal and hepatic amoebiasis and nematodiasis in 31 animals. Two of 5 tortoises tested by PCR were positive for Chlamydophila sp. Aeromonas hydrophila and Escherichia coli were cultured from multiple organs of 2 animals. The mycoplasma serology and PCR results for intranuclear coccidia and chelonian herpesvirus were negative. Polymerase chain reaction testing of tissues, plasma, and choanal/cloacal samples from 41 out of 42 tortoises tested were positive for an adenovirus, which was characterized by sequence analysis and molecular phylogenetic inference as a novel adenovirus of the genus Siadenovirus. The present report details the clinical and anatomic pathologic findings associated with systemic infection of Sulawesi tortoises by this novel Siadenovirus, which extends the known reptilian adenoviruses to the chelonians and extends the known genera of reptilian Adenoviridae beyond Atadenovirus to include the genus Siadenovirus.
******************
There has also been a suggestion in another post recently under the thread area of 'Vendor review' that a case of coccidia protozoan was responsable for some animal deaths.
The protozoan diseases have direct life cycles (your tortoise can re-infect itself over and over and over), so cleanliness in your cage is very important. Even outside enclosures are susceptible.
<http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~samacha/CareF/SickF/Protozo/Proto2.html>
Just take it for granted they all have something going on that is a potential disease process, and that keeping the enclosures clean, like the way you might shovel a sidewalk in the snow, while it is snowing, it has got to be a ritual that is carried out often.
It is also very nearly impossible to pin down how a disease got into your animal. Animal biosecurity is the product of all actions undertaken by an entity to prevent introduction of disease agents into a specific area. I do not have a perfect system myself, but I do have a plan to prevent as much disease processes as possible.
Rubber/latex/nitrile gloves are a big part of it. Not so expensive, several years supply is cheaper than one dead tortoise. Use some cleaner on all surfaces on a regular basis.
Even if you only have one animal, it can be lethal to itself as a carrier of a protozoan with a direct life cycle.
I just so dislike reading when someone has a health issue outbreak, and their animal dies. I don't intend to be preachy.
Will
