Inclusion body disease in snakes: a review and description of three cases in boa constrictors in Belgium

Vancraeynest, Dieter; Pasmans, Frank; Martel, An; Chiers, Koen; Meulemans, G; Mast, Jan; Zwart, P.; Ducatelle, Richard

doi:10.1136/vr.158.22.757

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Boid inclusion body disease (also termed inclusion body disease) is associated with characteristic eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions in various cell types, and thought to be caused by a retrovirus 25 . While neurological, muscular and respiratory (pneumonia) diseases are the more common manifestations, abnormal skin shedding, cutaneous neoplasia and necrotizing dermatitis have been reported in snakes with this disease 25,26 . Five of the snakes in this study were diagnosed with BIBD, and two had dysecdysis, although the inclusion bodies were found in the skin in only one.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Reptiles with dermatological lesions: a retrospective study of 301 cases at two university veterinary teaching hospitals (1992–2008)

White

Bourdeau

Bruet

et al. 2010

Veterinary Dermatology

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This retrospective study reviews the medical records of 301 reptiles with dermatological lesions that were examined at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California at Davis (VMTH-UCD) and the Unité de Dermatologie-Parasitologie-Mycologie, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Nantes (UDPM-ENVN) from 1 January 1992 to 1 July 2008. The most common reptile groups differed between the two hospitals, with lizards being the most common at the VMTH-UCD and chelonians at the UDPM-ENVN. At the VMTH-UCD, boa constrictors (Boa constrictor), ball pythons (Python regius) and other Python species were over-represented, and box turtles (Terrapene carolina) were under-represented in the dermatological lesion caseload. When institutional data were combined, 47% of all reptiles at both institutions with confirmed or suspected cases of sepsis had petechiae, with the highest association seen in chelonians at 82%. Dependent on institution and reptile group, from 29% to 64% of the cases had underlying husbandry issues. Sixty-two per cent of all cases were alive at final status. Veterinarians treating reptiles with skin disease should be aware of the following: (i) that boa constrictors and Python species may be predisposed to dermatological lesions; (ii) that client education is important for proper husbandry; and (iii) that there is a possible association between petechiae and sepsis, especially in chelonians. The conjectural association between certain skin lesions and sepsis remains to be confirmed by systematically derived data that demonstrate a causal relationship between the two.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Reptiles with dermatological lesions: a retrospective study of 301 cases at two university veterinary teaching hospitals (1992–2008)

White

Bourdeau

Bruet

et al. 2010

Veterinary Dermatology

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“…Emerging infectious diseases, such as chytridiomycosis in amphibians, inclusion body disease in snakes, and upper respiratory tract disease in tortoises, are inevitable threats to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles (138)(139)(140)(141). An important step in controlling and limiting disease outbreaks is maintaining sufficient genetic variation, both in the immune system and more generally, so that populations can successfully overcome these disease challenges (47,118).…”

Section: Captive Breeding and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation Genetics and Genomics of Amphibians and Reptiles

Shaffer

Gidiş

McCartney‐Melstad

et al. 2015

Annu. Rev. Anim. Biosci.

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Amphibians and reptiles as a group are often secretive, reach their greatest diversity often in remote tropical regions, and contain some of the most endangered groups of organisms on earth. Particularly in the past decade, genetics and genomics have been instrumental in the conservation biology of these cryptic vertebrates, enabling work ranging from the identification of populations subject to trade and exploitation, to the identification of cryptic lineages harboring critical genetic variation, to the analysis of genes controlling key life history traits. In this review, we highlight some of the most important ways that genetic analyses have brought new insights to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. Although genomics has only recently emerged as part of this conservation tool kit, several large-scale data sources, including full genomes, expressed sequence tags, and transcriptomes, are providing new opportunities to identify key genes, quantify landscape effects, and manage captive breeding stocks of at-risk species.

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“…Tissue samples from the central nervous, respiratory, gastrointestinal, urogenital, lymphatic, and endocrine systems of all snakes were fixed in 10% formalin and paraffin wax embedded. Consecutive sections (3 to 5 m) stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Giemsa served to confirm or exclude BIBD, based on the presence or absence of the typical intracytoplasmic IB in a wide range of cells (2,(7)(8)(9). Blood smears were stained with May-Grünwald Giemsa and examined for the presence of IB in circulating blood cells.…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In boas, the disease outcome varies; affected animals either die within weeks or months or become asymptomatic carriers (8,9). In contrast, pythons generally develop severe fatal neurological symptoms within a few weeks (8,9). Histologically, BIBD is characterized by typical eosinophilic to amphophilic, amorphous, intracytoplasmic IB that are ultrastructurally electron dense and consist primarily of a protein with a molecular mass of 68 kDa (7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is probably a consequence of immunosuppression (7,8) since red and white blood cells as well as myelopoietic cells also develop the typical inclusion bodies (IB), probably impairing function. In boas, the disease outcome varies; affected animals either die within weeks or months or become asymptomatic carriers (8,9). In contrast, pythons generally develop severe fatal neurological symptoms within a few weeks (8,9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isolation, Identification, and Characterization of Novel Arenaviruses, the Etiological Agents of Boid Inclusion Body Disease

Hetzel

Sironen

Laurinmäki

et al. 2013

J Virol

122

209

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g Boid inclusion body disease (BIBD) is a progressive, usually fatal disease of constrictor snakes, characterized by cytoplasmic inclusion bodies (IB) in a wide range of cell types. To identify the causative agent of the disease, we established cell cultures from BIBD-positive and -negative boa constrictors. The IB phenotype was maintained in cultured cells of affected animals, and supernatants from these cultures caused the phenotype in cultures originating from BIBD-negative snakes. Viruses were purified from the supernatants by ultracentrifugation and subsequently identified as arenaviruses. Purified virus also induced the IB phenotype in naive cells, which fulfilled Koch's postulates in vitro. One isolate, tentatively designated University of Helsinki virus (UHV), was studied in depth. Sequencing confirmed that UHV is a novel arenavirus species that is distinct from other known arenaviruses including those recently identified in snakes with BIBD. The morphology of UHV was established by cryoelectron tomography and subtomographic averaging, revealing the trimeric arenavirus spike structure at 3.2-nm resolution. Immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and immunoblotting with a polyclonal rabbit antiserum against UHV and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) revealed the presence of genetically diverse arenaviruses in a large cohort of snakes with BIBD, confirming the causative role of arenaviruses. Some snakes were also found to carry arenavirus antibodies. Furthermore, mammalian cells (Vero E6) were productively infected with UHV, demonstrating the potential of arenaviruses to cross species barriers. In conclusion, we propose the newly identified lineage of arenaviruses associated with BIBD as a novel taxonomic entity, boid inclusion body disease-associated arenaviruses (BIBDAV), in the family Arenaviridae.

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Inclusion body disease in snakes: a review and description of three cases in boa constrictors in Belgium

Cited by 22 publications

References 18 publications

Reptiles with dermatological lesions: a retrospective study of 301 cases at two university veterinary teaching hospitals (1992–2008)

Reptiles with dermatological lesions: a retrospective study of 301 cases at two university veterinary teaching hospitals (1992–2008)

Conservation Genetics and Genomics of Amphibians and Reptiles

Isolation, Identification, and Characterization of Novel Arenaviruses, the Etiological Agents of Boid Inclusion Body Disease

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