Arenaviruses – Inclusion Body Disease

Arenaviruses – Inclusion Body Disease

Die bei Reptilien vorkommenden Arenaviren gehören zu 2 Genera:

• Reptarenavirus
• Hartmanivirus

Reptarenaviruses cause inclusion body disease in boas and pythons.

("Inclusion Body Disease" abbreviated: IBD).

Better known to many as snake AIDS.

Initially, it was mainly boas that were affected by this disease, but the virus is increasingly also being detected in pythons.

Retroviruses belong to the family of RNA viruses, which incorporate themselves into the genetic material of the cell and thus prevent them from being recognized by the immune system.

Reptarenaviruses can be detected by PCR.

IBD is a disease that produces small particles inside various cells, which partially or completely inhibit the function of the cell.

In the brain, the conduction of impulses is particularly affected.

Scientists currently assume that IBD is caused by a retrovirus that has not yet been found in nature.

In pythons, inclusions are found rather rarely and only in individual nerve cells in the brain.

Initially, IBD causes a chronic intestinal disease that is triggered by an immune reaction to the virus.

Moulting problems have also been observed, as the contraction of the muscles is already impaired.

The first signs are also vomiting of ingested food and weight loss.

Pythons with IBD often show trembling of the body as the disease progresses.

There are also disorders caused by a malfunction of the central nervous system.

These include easily recognizable symptoms such as head tilt and spasmodic hyperextension of the neck and back muscles, with the head bent backwards.

In addition, balance disorders and loss of the reflex to turn around can be observed.

The exact routes of transmission do not yet appear to be fully understood.

But

• the exchange of fluids
• the crawling and associated lambing over infected objects
• cleaning work from terrarium to terrarium without desinfection of the equipement

should play a role in transmission.

Snake mites have also come into focus as vectors.

The outbreak of IBD in pythons usually occurs a few weeks after infection.

According to Blahak, the incubation period can be up to 1.5 years before an outbreak occurs.

In the end, however, there is the inevitable: the loss of the python.

For this reason, pythons are offered to be euthanized in the event of a double positive result.

Literature:

Manfred Dorka & Nicole Dorka in Zusammenarbeit mit der Firma Laboklin:

https://www.sturmi-farm.com/schlangen/ibd-infoseite/

Blahak, S. Virale Infektionen bei Reptilien:

https://www.dvg.net/avid/23tag/Tagungsbericht/blahak.pdf