title: Detection and prevalence of boid inclusion body disease in collections of boas and pythons using immunological assays.
abstract: Inclusion body disease (IBD) of boas and pythons is characterized by the intracytoplasmic accumulation of an antigenic 68 kDa viral protein IBDP, more recently known as the nucleoprotein (NP) of the reptarenaviruses. Blood samples of 131 captive boas and pythons (53 boa constrictors, Boa constrictor; 35 rainbow boas, Epicrates cenchria; 22 ball pythons, Python regius; 5 carpet pythons, Morelia spilota; 6 Burmese pythons, Python bivittatus; 4 Jamaican boas, Epicrates subflavus; 5 anacondas, Eunectes spp.; and 1 green tree python, Morelia viridis) were obtained from 28 collections in the USA. Diagnosis of IBD was initially made by the identification of eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies in hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stained blood films and isolated peripheral white blood cells (PWBC). The overall prevalence of IBD in study snakes was 25/131 or 19% (95% CI = 12.4%, 25.8%) with boa constrictors being more commonly infected (22/53 or 41.5%; 95% CI = 28.2%, 54.8%) than other species in this study. Of the 22 IBD positive boa constrictors, 87% were clinically healthy, 13% had various signs of chronic illness, and none showed signs of central nervous system disease. Using a validated monoclonal anti-NP antibody, NP was confirmed within the isolated PWBC by immunohistochemical staining and Western blots. The presence of reptarenaviruses within blood samples of 27 boa constrictors and three rainbow boas was also assessed by PCR. Among boa constrictors, very good agreements were shown between the observation of inclusion bodies (by HE stain) and the presence of NP (by immunohistochemistry, kappa = 0.92; and Western blots, kappa = 0.89), or the presence of reptarenaviruses (by PCR; kappa = 0.92).
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Molecular Pathology Core, Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, 1395 Center Drive, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 200 West Lake St., Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Stenglein
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA; Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, 1700 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: DeRisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA. Electronic address: jacobsone@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Jacobson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D001116:Arenaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000662:veterinary; D017821:Boidae; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D006304:Health Status; D006416:Hematoxylin; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015995:Prevalence; D013045:Species Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D009698:Nucleoproteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; D004801:Eosine Yellowish-(YS); D006416:Hematoxylin
keywords: Boid inclusion body disease; Immunohistochemistry; Nucleoprotein; Reptarenavirus; Snakes