Thank you, April. 

I have been wondering how often ranavirus has been found in wild populations. From what I can tell from the literature, most if not all documented occurrences have been in captivity. But then I hear anecdotal reports of ranavirus in turtles here and there. I remember hearing about ranavirus being found in Blandings turtles in New York State a few years back, but so far as I can tell this has never been published. 

So a question for those in the know, How common are ranavirus outbreaks in wild turtles? Is it simply under-reported? 

Thanks, 

Jesse




Jesse Brunner
School of Biological Sciences
Washington State University
283 Eastlick Hall / PO Box 644236
Pullman, WA 99164 USA
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509-335-3702



On Feb 15, 2012, at 8:00 AM, Johnson, April J wrote:

We found Iridovirus-like particles on EM from tissues in a box turtle die off involving 30 turtles dating back to 1991 in Georgia.  It is likely not a new problem, although it is possible it is increasing in frequency or at least in detection.  In 2003, there was a die-off in a repatriated box turtle population in Pennsylvania that was being closely tracked by Bill Belzer.  He wrote up a paper for the Jan 2011 issue of the Turtle and Tortoise newsletter on his own personal observations and speculations that may not be easily accessible (not peer-reviewed).  I’ve attached it in case it may be of interest to anyone.  
 
 
April
 
April Johnson, DVM, MPH, PhD
Dipl ACVM, Dipl ACVPM
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health
Purdue University, College of Veterinary Medicine
Phone: (765) 494-0562
 
 
 
<belzer  Seibert 2011 ranavirus pdf (2).pdf>