IBD testing and quarantine

[Snagrio]

I've been learning about IBD and just how horrible of a disease it is, but there's something I'm curious about. It's commonly said that boas and pythons need to undergo a longer quarantine period than "normal" specifically because of the threat of this virus to them in particular and how it can remain hidden for extended periods of time (though from what I've heard other groups like colubrids can harbor it too). But from what I understand, you can also get your snakes tested for IBD. So with that in mind, would it make more sense to just default to getting new arrivals tested instead of waiting for so long and essentially crossing your fingers? Obviously a quarantine period is necessary out of common sense since there's always mites and RIs and whatnot to worry about, but in the case of the dreaded IBD it's a muse I've been pondering on.

[Bogertophis]

My understanding is that pythons are more like the "canary in the coal mine" with IBD- that is, they tend to be symptomatic (sick) much faster than boas. It's a nasty-scary disease, for sure.

[Erie_herps]

Not much is known about IBD, so that makes it even more dangerous. I believe false negatives can occur, especially in early stages. So if you're worried about it, it would be best to get a test when the snake arrives and at the end of it's quarantine. I think there is sometimes a chance of recovery if a snake has it but it often results in death. There are some people who have IBD positive collections so if you were to get a snake with IBD it would be ethical to give it to someone with an IBD positive collection. I don't think it's as infectious as everyone claims and if everything is thoroughly cleaned it's not likely to spread (but don't treat this as a fact). I'm pretty sure that UVC can kill the virus but reading about that is on my to-do list.

[Bogertophis]

Not much is known about IBD, so that makes it even more dangerous. I believe false negatives can occur, especially in early stages. So if you're worried about it, it would be best to get a test when the snake arrives and at the end of it's quarantine. I think there is sometimes a chance of recovery if a snake has it but it often results in death. There are some people who have IBD positive collections so if you were to get a snake with IBD it would be ethical to give it to someone with an IBD positive collection. I don't think it's as infectious as everyone claims and if everything is thoroughly cleaned it's not likely to spread (but don't treat this as a fact). I'm pretty sure that UVC can kill the virus but reading about that is on my to-do list.

I won't claim to be an expert on IBD, & I've certainly never had to deal with it, but at this time there is no cure, & typically euthanasia is encouraged sooner rather than later, to prevent the potential spread- simply because it's so devastating- it's not only the snake that suffers, but imagine if you had a large collection with a lot of money involved with commercial aspirations & contagion to your collection could have been prevented. I can imagine there are some "IBD positive" collections where the snakes have been exposed but are asymptomatic- some snakes, including colubrids, have been thought to be able to carry it without showing signs of illness- & understandably no one wants to euthanize their seemingly healthy pets, but I sure hope they take every precaution so it's not spread. UVC is fine for killing viruses on surfaces but not in the snakes themselves- that would kill the snakes too- that's not a cure. It's also thought that mites may be able to spread it, & I'd assume that's true until proven otherwise- which is why it's best to avoid buying snakes known to have mites. Mites are more than just inconvenient- they're disease vectors.

[bcr229]

There are actually a few viral infections that are highly contagious and fatal. Some labs offer a "boid panel" that tests for all of them from one blood sample.

The cost of the test isn't all that high, but you have to take your snake to the vet, have the vet draw the blood sample, and then ship the sample overnight express to the lab. All of those costs add up quickly.

[WrongPython]

Testing

Yes, default screening for new arrivals absolutely makes sense! It's actually part of my default quarantine procedure now. Each new snake is screened for arenavirus (the virus that causes IBD), nidovirus, and paramyxovirus on arrival, and again at the end of a minimum 90 day quarantine period. At the very least, you'll be stopping the obvious positives at the door and preventing them from infecting the rest of your snakes.

If you're looking to start testing an existing group, there's a few ways you could go about it. If you're a breeder, you could start by testing all the breeders in rotation in the coming season. If you just have a large group, perhaps start with your more sensitive, high-dollar, or sentimental individuals. I personally only have a small group of three snakes, so I just decided to do a screening of my entire group.

RAL/VetDNA (link to there reptile testing services here) offer oral swab-based testing for the common reptile viruses. They also offer a "boid panel" like the bcr229 mentioned. Said panel only needs one swab per snake, and tests for nidovirus, arenavirus, and paramyxovirus. Tests for individual viruses are $20 per reptile while the full boid panel is $60 per reptile. All you do is order the swabs you need, swab your snakes (either at home by yourself or at your vet's), and overnight the swabs to them. You typically get your results back at the end of the next business day after the swabs were received. Their swab-based testing for arenavirus seems to be just as accurate as the blood-based testing through the University of Florida -- a friend sent off samples to both places and the results were in agreement.

IBD and Arenavirus

Arenavirus is odd and dangerous in that it can hide very well in boas. As time has gone on, formal studies and informal reports from keepers point towards many arenavirus infections in boas being asymptomatic -- ie. the boas will outwardly appear to be fine and healthy, even though they're infected. For whatever reason, some boas just don't develop an acute case of IBD from arenavirus infection. However, that's not to say they don't eventually succumb to it -- it seems as though the virus causes these boas suffer something similar to AIDS, so they eventually succumb to some other normally-not-as-fatal disease or cancer. Not all arenavirus infections immediately result in IBD, but all IBD cases are caused by arenavirus. So, you'll want to screen each and every boas you have/can to make sure they're not a silent carrier or shedder of the virus. Asymptomatic boas are still capable of shedding the virus and infecting other snakes who may not be as resistant as they are.

There is presently no cure for IBD. IBD is 100% fatal once symptoms appear, so the best course of action then is humane euthanasia. No current research suggests that snakes can clear arenavirus upon infection. Once they're infected, they're infected for life. Whether this infection leads to IBD or eventual death from something else seems to be a matter of genetics and environmental factors. For what it's worth, a good number of IBD infections seem to stem from boas being infected with two different strains/types of arenavirus at the same time.
The only way to keep arenavirus out of your group is to test, test, test and remove positive snakes! UV lighting that is designed/safe for reptile use will not kill or destroy arenavirus, or any other virus for that matter. The type and intensity of UV lighting you'd need to destroy viruses is lethal to all living things, including your reptiles. That's not to bash providing UV light to reptiles for other reasons, such as warding off MBD or providing environmental enrichment. I provide my snakes with UV, and they do use it from time to time.

The "false negatives" you sometimes here about are snakes that testing negative for arenavirus at one point, but popped positive later on. This is actually seems to be due to the number of copies of arenavirus circulating around in a snake's blood/being exhaled with their breath -- AKA the "viral load" -- not being high enough to be detected via the test in question. The viral load has to be reach a certain threshold to be detected via blood- or swab-based testing. If the viral load isn't high enough, the test won't detect it, which leads to a (false) negative result. However, this doesn't mean the snake isn't infected. If the viral load rises over time, eventually that snake will pop positive. So, false negatives don't mean tests aren't accurate -- there's just not enough virus in the sample for them to detect.

Arenavirus can hop out of boas to infect other snakes, like pythons and colubrids. For the most part, pythons seem to be much more sensitive to arenavirus than boas, and most seem to develop IBD and crash rather quickly upon exposure. There are very few reported cases of arenavirus in colubrids, so I'm not sure what the outlook is there. Either way, arenavirus doesn't seem to be circulating in the python and colubrid communities as much as it is in the boa community. Nidovirus and crypto, respectively, seem to be the issues there.

I think I've rambled on enough. I hope this helps!

[Bogertophis]

WrongPython: That's ^ ^ ^ the most helpful "rambling" I've seen in a long while, many thanks!