Please be aware of the possible new BP "supervirus", and Q,Q,Q!!!

Ok. So Iam not intending to scare or freak anyone out, I just figured It was my duty to inform you all of some info I just received. I care about this hobby, and the more people are aware of it, the better they can be in the know, and protect their own collections. So before I tell you, just two things: 1. The data Im telling you I got from two people. Some secondhand from my husband who talked to our friend who breeds BPs, and some directly from our friend...Ill just call him "Mr.Smith". 2. I'm just personally labeling this "thing" the "supervirus" so that I can identify with what whatever it is, and just that..a label for it. Cause as it stands, all interested/affected parties are unsure just what the supervirus is. Sooo...
My friend, Mr. Smith has been battling RIs for quite some time(past 6 months maybe) in his collection....which is about 50 animals or so. Hes spent 1000's of $$$ at different vets on baytril, organic meds, supplements, and batteries of tests. hes tried different beddings, different racks, different rooms, different humidity, etc. For some time, the baytril seemed to help and most of the animals got better. Then the RIs came back. Its started spreading through his collection. Animals have been dying. Hes done everything he can and nothings working. He at wits end. Something is going on, and whatever it is, its highly contagious. well, fast forward to last night. Mr. Smith makes a call to Dr. Stahl in VA. For anyone who doesn't know who Dr. Stahl is, he is probably the best known reptile/exotics vet on the east coast. A lot of big breeders on the east coast see/contact him.; Ralph Davis, Outback Reptiles, etc. Dr. Stahl gives my friend Mr. Smith some very scary news. Theres been some type of virus that's been DECIMATING Bp collections. Dr. Stahl has had to send bodies of animals to the University of FL for further testing/necropsies because he cannot figure out exactly what this bug is. He believes that it may possibly be something that was brought in on some African wild imports tho, because many big name breeders(whom he does not mention)who import from Africa are having issues with this very same bug, and are putting many sick animals in the freezer over fear that the rest of their animals will be exposed. Dr. Stahl also mentions that he theorizes that this BP "supervirus" is behaving just like the IBD virus in boas....in that some animals don't actually have the virus or show symptoms of having it, but are instead just carriers, and expose other animals to the virus. Dr. Stahl mentions that they are close to finding a cure for IBD, but this virus affecting BP collections is not the IBD virus....its something different that is just affecting BPs, believed to be carried over from Africa. Mr. Smith tells me that Dr. Stahl is going to do a necropsy on two of his sickest animals to confirm if they have the supervirus. It is going to be a very expensive endeavor, but Mr. Smith would rather know, then just wait around and watch his whole collection die off. Now, this is very important: Mr. Smith has purchased animals from a few different people in the past 8mnths-year or so. He did NOT quarantine. And he regrettably admits he messed up. Im hoping he can find a cure for his collection. I care about him, and I know this situation is hurting him in many ways. I wish there was something I could do to help him. However, I don't want to jeopardize my collection. Whenever we visit him, a "strip-and-shower" is a MUST as soon as we walk in our front door. Im not taking any chances. If anyone else has heard anything else, your input here is greatly appreciated. I believe its everyone's duty in this hobby to help each other out by making them aware of something that may have an impact on our hobby....regardless of whether it turns out to be nothing or SOMETHING. And please, please please PLEASE quarantine ALL new animals if you've never done it before....DO IT. for 3..4...6...months even. I love my snakes...and Im sure you love yours too. Protect em.

That is a bit disturbing...

Good lord...that's an epic "wall of text". Info like that would be so much more helpful if it was a bit easier to read.

Thanks for posting though...I'll have to read through it when I'm not so worn out...:sleepy:

Please be sure to update this with information on the necropsies and the progress on any research on this virus.

I don't believe that it's actually a 'new' virus. There is something that has been around for quite a few years. Here is a link that might help with research - http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=220629 I won't vouch for the veracity of the information posted since I have no first hand knowledge, but you can read through it and make up your own mind.

So what is the usual quarantine procedures hat are recommended for reptiles?? I know with furry animals its usually a 14-21 day quarantine in complete isolation...

I QT for 3 months as a matter of course.

Has your Mr. Smith sold any animals in the last 8 months or so?

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Originally Posted by Mephibosheth1

So what is the usual quarantine procedures hat are recommended for reptiles?? I know with furry animals its usually a 14-21 day quarantine in complete isolation...

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Illnesses have been documented to incubate up to 9 months before becoming active. Some members QT for 3 weeks. Others 3 months. Some 1 year.
I personally do a minimum of 6 months.

Work with your established animals first then with QT after to avoid cross contamination. Once you work with QT animals, you shouldn't go back to your established collection w/o changing clothes/shower/whatever. If you breed and feed your own rodents, you cannot return the feeder back to the colony if the QT animal does not eat. That can potentially contaminate the rest of your colony.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I don't believe that it's actually a 'new' virus. There is something that has been around for quite a few years. Here is a link that might help with research - http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=220629 I won't vouch for the veracity of the information posted since I have no first hand knowledge, but you can read through it and make up your own mind.

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Thank you for finding and posting that link. I had read it a while ago and was going to try to track it down when I read the OP, but you beat me to it. Every snake owner should read it.

I do have an issue with something the OP wrote, as it's very important that everyone understand it:

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Dr. Stahl mentions that they are close to finding a cure for IBD

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IBD is a viral disease. To date there are no true "cures" for viral diseases; antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. There are drugs to alleviate symptoms of the illness, such as the ones to reduce fever, nausea, headache, etc. and which will help to fight off the infection. There are certainly vaccines for many viral diseases, but ultimately the infected host's defenses have to rally to defeat the virus.

Diseases like AIDS, ebola, the flu, the common cold, etc. are all viral. With what I've read about IBD, researchers hope to develop a blood test in the near future that will determine whether or not a live animal is a carrier. Currently it's identified post-mortem by examining liver and kidney tissue samples. Sadly the researchers are not close to finding a true "cure".

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Has your Mr. Smith sold any animals in the last 8 months or so?

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Yes. As a matter of fact to me n my husband. Right before he started having problems, we got two animals from him. One is still in quarantine, but the other has been in our collection since February, after quarantine. No problems so far, but it doesnt mean im not worried.

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I think the real questions was has he sold any after he started having problems.

Though I may be wrong as Wes does not misspeak as a rule.

I work at UF. I am going to poke around to see what I can find out.

that be a great help as Mr Smith has lost a couple nice snakes to this (disease).I hate to see him have this issue as a friend and fellow reptile lover.

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Originally Posted by dr del

I think the real questions was has he sold any after he started having problems.

Though I may be wrong as Wes does not misspeak as a rule.

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No because he afraid too. He hate to see others suffer any loss. He not even attended any shows in the last 3 months.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I don't believe that it's actually a 'new' virus. There is something that has been around for quite a few years. Here is a link that might help with research - http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=220629 I won't vouch for the veracity of the information posted since I have no first hand knowledge, but you can read through it and make up your own mind.

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Thank you for posting that link Mark! I read the whole thing and must say.....it is very upsetting. And ive heard about the paramyxovirus before.....like in 2005/2006. Surely so many years later there has to be some development on it?

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Originally Posted by 4theSNAKElady

Thank you for posting that link Mark! I read the whole thing and must say.....it is very upsetting. And ive heard about the paramyxovirus before.....like in 2005/2006. Surely so many years later there has to be some development on it?

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OPMV has been implicated in many of the mysterious IBD outbreaks that killed off entire collections in months.

With all the talk about IBD, OPMV is all but forgotten by many in the hobby, but experienced reptile vets will tell you they see more of it than almost any other virus.

In fact, many of these respiratory infections that we read about - you know, the ones that spread from snake to snake and do not resolve - most likely are OPMV. OPMV at times presents itself as an un-curable gram negative RI.

That is not always the case however, as many snakes just die. Yep, you've seen the post: snake was eating like a champ, refused food a Friday and BAM! - Monday it was dead. This is very common in OPMV infections - no signs up until the snake kicks the can.

Since most knuckle heads are willing to spend $2000 on an ARS rack, God knows how much filling it with high-end morphs, but not $200 on a necropsy, these become recurring forum bugaboos - the Untreatable RI and the Suddenly Dead Snake. So my guess is that OPMV is much more prevalent than we are willing to give it credit for.

........as for a lack of development on OPMV, well, this hobby is downright pathetic when it comes to contributing to causes - namely donating money to protect our rights or donating money to ophidian disease research. As such, I'm sure that there has been progress - but when those doing the research cannot rely on the community to assist with properly necropsying suspected infected snakes or donating $$$$ to a cure, that progress will be justifiably slow.

You are absolutely right Skip :clap:...in fact, when I read that link, it made feel a little guilty and want to maybe donate to some kind of reptile medical research fund. I think while it is our duty here to protect our rights to keep our reptiles(ie USARK,etc,.), b it is ALSO our duty to put efforts into the forwarding of research to protect the HEALTH of our reptiles into the future.

I'm curious who the Mr. Smith is.

sadly Mr Smith has lost 3 nice snakes this weekend 2 (champagne ghost ) and a albino pinstripe. He has donated (pad) for 2 other snakes to be killed and study done to try and see (hope) for some answers and a possible treatment) He has been very upset over this, and he does still get pics and talks to people that purchased snakes from him up until his collection has shown signs. and everyone else snakes have been fine so far. We have taken one snake ( normal) that showed no signs of being sick and she in QT at my mothers and so far ( knocks on several trees) is doing fine being a little pig eating all the time. WE are attempting to see if she
A) comes down sick and
B) see it it possible something else causing this all. as MR Smith does have an issue with wild rats under his house that we being trying to kill off.

we figure if the snake has no issues and the rest of the snakes get sick/die then it either we moved her before she got it or it something in the environment.

I heard about this from Dr. Stahl about 4-6 months back but it was still not something I wanted to disclose because the research hasn't been published yet. He said it should be published by the end of 2013 or the start of 2014. He basically told me the same thing. We are going to have to QT for upwards of a year. He also recommended that the BP community work on funding a project to map the genome so we can match it against the viruses' like we do with IBD. I talked to him about how folks on this site kept talking about strange RIs that wouldn't go away with traditional meds and he said that they may have been this virus.

I have a buddy fighting with something that sounds just like this. Scary stuff.

Any updates?