Quarantine

[OsirisRa32]

Too members on this forum have had correspondence with Dr. Jacobson (and shared the same on this forum) directly and have read enough literature on IBD to know that the leading researchers on this disease state that snakes can be asymptomatic carriers for an indefinite period of time. The members of this forum are pretty well boned up on IBD - please don't confuse people new to hobby by making them think that IBD and OPMV always strike fast and kill fast. It is simply and blatantly false......and it adds to the misinformation that surrounds these diseases.

OPMV has similar characteristics. Despite what the BBC gloss piece states, it is commonly known in this hobby that animals exposed to OPMV can be considered asymptomatic carriers for up to 24 months.

Your assuming things on my part that aren't there....I was simply trying to add to the discussion and bring whatever knowledge I personally have to it as well. I never once stated that it ALWAYS kills fast, I am not purposefully attempting to confuse people. I thought the BBC article was brief but interesting piece...my specific point in linking that bbc article was that it contained a direct link to a peer reviewed journal article...as I stated, that contained an original research piece on the issues being discussed, ie IBD and paramyxovirus.

The point of forums are for information sharing and discussion if I am not mistaken? instead of reading into and assuming things from my statements that are not true nor accurate, if you have some links to these sources you speak about I, personally, would love to have useful and correct information shared with me.

I may not have a degree in herpetology but I do bring to the table 3 degrees in public health, biology and infectious disease (human focused not reptilian by any means)....I am a scientist by trade and by nature, and am always trying to further educate myself....like I have stated and asked for previously if you have accurate and legitimate sources for research and peer reviewed journal articles...if you don't mind sharing I would very much appreciate it.

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I have corresponded with Dr. Jacobson re IBD on 4 occasions his research is leading the field although primarily in boas. I also have seen a documented real case in person of IBD from a local collection. Very luckily the person who had the snake (it came from Ottawa) practices very very very careful quarantine. IBD transmission vector is unknown making it very hard to know how to carry on with quarantine. The test as I understand has a high accuracy rate in the 90% or better I believe. It is costly, the test is 100$ plus the shipping and the preparation, it should be sent to Dr. Jacobson in the U of Florida. It is because of the unknown factors i mention it. If it is unknown how it is spread there is no reasonable way to know if any breeder has had contact with it. Ophidian Paramyxovirus I know little about so I am unable to make intelligent comments upon it.

I can't say how much the OPs vet charges for tests but MY vet charges about 25-35$ for a fecal exam and 40-55$ for a blood screen. Not unreasonable. I would as I originally stated that i would not even give thought to the fecal. I run fecals every year on all the snakes I own. With the high rate I found of parasites in rats raised for food and the fact that few freezers are set to -7ºC and often prey items are used inside 30 days even frozen thawed is not free of that chance.

The blood screen is a good idea period, it offers valuable information about the health and a baseline to track changes and is an asset in future treatments.


IBD testing well if there is or has been any contact with a boa or any new animal entered into the collection (of the breeder) in 2 years then it might be something to be considered. Is it likely to find anything no unlikely. I equate it to having an AIDS testing between partners there is no reason why i would suspect anything but it starts off a new relationship with a clean slate so to speak.

I believe Dr. Rita Chang is in charge of running the blood tests.

http://labs.vetmed.ufl.edu/files/201...D2012-Rita.pdf

Oh, it looks like Dr. Jacobsons lab also runs testing on Ophidian Paramyxovirus as well.

Hey sent you a message