Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E Green St., Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Nokuse Plantation, 13292 County Highway 3280, Bruce, Florida 32455, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2020 Jul;56(3):679-683. doi: 10.7589/2019-02-053. Epub 2020 Feb 13.
Emerging pathogens may pose additional threats to already vulnerable populations of chelonians, such as gopher tortoises (). In response to a mortality event on a translocation site in northwest Florida, US during 2013-15, 13 gopher tortoises were necropsied and their tissues were screened for 12 pathogens, including , , and -like ranavirus (FV3). The DNA of FV3 was detected via quantitative PCR in the gastrointestinal tract of three tortoises. Subsequently, pathogen surveillance was performed on whole blood and oral-cloacal swab samples of live translocated tortoises from two different enclosures within the site (=68), rehabilitated tortoises from the site (=18), and tortoises prior to release on site (=35) during 2015-17. spp. were present in all groups and years of live tortoises tested. The DNA of FV3 was detected in 15 individuals both with and without clinical signs of disease in 2016. We recaptured 20 tortoises and captured an additional 20 tortoises in 2017 for surveillance, yet FV3 DNA was no longer detected, even in those that had previously tested positive (=7). The results of this study contribute to the epidemiology of ranavirus in chelonians and suggests that gopher tortoises could be reservoirs for FV3. We recommend that the status of infection should be included for health screens for gopher tortoises in translocation programs.
新兴病原体可能对已经脆弱的龟鳖类种群构成额外威胁，例如草原龟（）。为应对美国佛罗里达州西北部一个迁徙地 2013-15 年发生的死亡事件，对 13 只草原龟进行了剖检，并对其组织进行了 12 种病原体的筛查，包括（）、（）和类虹彩病毒（FV3）。在 3 只龟的胃肠道中通过定量 PCR 检测到了 FV3 的 DNA。随后，在 2015-17 年期间，对来自该地点两个不同围栏中已迁徙龟的全血和口腔直肠拭子样本（=68）、来自该地点康复龟（=18）以及在该地点放归前的龟（=35）进行了病原体监测。在所有测试的活龟组和年份中均存在 spp.。2016 年，在有和无临床疾病症状的 15 只个体中均检测到了 FV3 的 DNA。我们在 2017 年重新捕获了 20 只龟，并额外捕获了 20 只龟进行监测，但未再检测到 FV3 DNA，即使是那些之前检测呈阳性的个体也未检测到（=7）。本研究的结果有助于了解虹彩病毒在龟鳖类中的流行情况，并表明草原龟可能是 FV3 的储主。我们建议在迁徙计划中对草原龟进行健康筛查时，应包括感染状况。
