14 research outputs found
Gastrointestinal Cryptosporidiosis in Captive Psittacine Birds in the United States: A Case Review
Pneumonia in a Captive Central Bearded Dragon With Concurrent Detection of Helodermatid Adenovirus 2 and a Novel Mycoplasma Species
A 4-year-old captive male central bearded dragon ( Pogona vitticeps) was presented for recurrent episodic dyspnea and anorexia with occasional expulsion of oral mucoid discharge. Despite empirical antimicrobial therapy and supportive care, the animal died and was submitted for autopsy. Defining histologic features included heterophilic and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, with occasional amphophilic intranuclear inclusions and prominent type II pneumocyte hyperplasia. Transmission electron microscopy revealed intranuclear 80-nm, nonenveloped, hexagonal viral particles within pneumocytes. Helodermatid adenovirus 2 (HeAdV2) was determined as the etiologic agent through pan-adenoviral consensus polymerase (PCR) chain reaction and sequencing. Nucleic acid from a novel Mycoplasma sp. (provisionally called Mycoplasma pogonae) was identified by pan-generic PCR targeting the mycoplasma 16S ribosomal RNA gene with sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. As bacteria morphologically consistent with Mycoplasma sp. were not observed by special stains and transmission electron microscopy, the detection of M. pogonae nucleic acid is of indeterminate significance; however, M. pogonae and HeAdV2 coinfection may have exacerbated disease
Partial characterization of a new adenovirus lineage discovered in testudinoid turtles
In the USA and in Hungary, almost simultaneously, adenoviruses of a putative
novel lineage were detected by PCR and sequencing in turtles belonging to four
different species (including two subspecies) of the superfamily Testudinoidea. In the
USA, partial sequence of the adenoviral DNA-dependent DNA polymerase was
obtained from samples of a captive pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri), four
eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) and two red-eared sliders (Trachemys
scripta elegans). In Hungary, several individuals of the latter subspecies as well as some
yellow-bellied sliders (T. s. scripta) were found to harbor identical, or closely related,
putative new adenoviruses. From numerous attempts to amplify any other genomic
fragment by PCR, only a nested method was successful, in which a 476-bp fragment of
the hexon gene could be obtained from several samples. In phylogeny reconstructions,
based on either DNA polymerase or hexon partial sequences, the putative new
adenoviruses formed a clade distinct from the five accepted genera of the family
Adenoviridae. Three viral sub-clades corresponding to the three host genera
(Malacochersus, Terrapene, Trachemys) were observed. Attempts to isolate the new
adenoviruses on turtle heart (TH-1) cells were unsuccessful. Targeted PCR screening of live and dead specimens revealed a prevalence of approximately 25% in small shelter
colonies of red-eared and yellow-bellied sliders in Hungary. The potential pathology of
these viruses needs further investigation; clinically healthy sliders were found to shed
the viral DNA in detectable amounts. Based on the phylogenetic distance, the new
adenovirus lineage seems to merit the rank of a novel genus
Psittacid alphaherpesvirus 5 infection in Indian ringneck parakeets in southern California.
Four Indian ringneck parakeets (Psittacula krameri; syn. ringneck parrots or rose-ringed parakeets) were submitted by 2 private owners for autopsy following a history of dyspnea and death. Gross findings were varied and included thickening of the left caudal thoracic air sac, white spots throughout the liver, mild dilation of the proventriculus, coelomic effusion, splenomegaly, and pulmonary congestion and edema. Microscopically, the submitted parakeets had significant lesions in the lower respiratory tract, including necrotizing bronchitis, parabronchitis, and interstitial pneumonia with numerous syncytia containing eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions. Electron microscopy of the lungs was compatible with a herpesviral infection and Psittacid alphaherpesvirus 5 (PsAHV5) was detected via PCR and sequencing. There has been inconsistent terminology used with Psittacid alphaherpesvirus 3 and PsAHV5; we attempt here to clarify the reported history of these viruses
Sulawesi tortoise adenovirus-1 in two impressed tortoises (Manouria impressa) and a Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota)
Supplemental Material, DS1_VET_10.1177_0300985818780451 - Pneumonia in a Captive Central Bearded Dragon With Concurrent Detection of Helodermatid Adenovirus 2 and a Novel Mycoplasma Species
<p>Supplemental Material, DS1_VET_10.1177_0300985818780451 for Pneumonia in a Captive Central Bearded Dragon With Concurrent Detection of Helodermatid Adenovirus 2 and a Novel Mycoplasma Species by Nicholas A. Crossland, Peter M. DiGeronimo, Yulia Sokolova, April L. Childress, James F. X. Wellehan, Javier Nevarez, and Daniel Paulsen in Veterinary Pathology</p