Ophidian Paramyxovirus information

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by cris

The thing is with a virus they apparently cant diagnose in a living animal(for some reason?) is that infected animals can show no symptoms and potentially carry the disease while others immune systems will 'defeat' the virus.

Is there any accurate information on the spread of this virus?

I think it would be a good idea for big snake breeders to donate a fair amount of profits into research, with a bit of money the problem shouldnt be hard to solve IMO

I think greater benefit will come out of information about possible transmission mediums. Unfortunately there is a great deal of irrational fear about OPMV at the moment. It wouldn't surprise me if the thought would cross a breeders mind "if I offer up information about the OPMV deaths I have had, will I be blacklisted in peoples minds".

I am not saying all breeders are thinking this, but no matter how well you can account for your biosecurity procedures and how well you've limited the impact people will still think "wasn't he the guy who had OPMV in his collection".

IMO (in my opinion) a simpler starting point would be to continue the education campaign within the reptile keeper community to remove the irrational fear and replace it with intelligent responsibilty. If people like olivehydra and nightowl continue to offer information about their keeping practices and OPMV outbreaks we can draw correlations between cases and identify potential transmission mediums.

[xycom]

Do you have contact details for Tim or any articles on the topic from him?

[cris]

It would be very easy to do a study to find out how its transmitted all thats needed is money, or is their already a study being conducted?

[adbacus]

Originally Posted by cris

It would be very easy to do a study to find out how its transmitted all thats needed is money, or is their already a study being conducted?

It isn't as easy as you think. Until the actual pathogen (bug) is isolated and defined with the specific gene markers, the study would be flawed. As stated before, the bug, needs to be specifically isolated before management and cure can be defined.

Who knows, it may not be a bug at all but an auto immune disease caused by continuous breeding of a limited gene pool, or a prionic pathogen caused by using rodents as a food source (i.e. Jakob Kreutzfeldt's /Mad Cow disease) - I certainly do not know.

As stated by others, there is a theory that some snakes have some form of immunity or partial immunity or are carriers. The carriers you wouldn't unless a definitive test is found.

There are plenty of other diseases out there and OPMV is greatly banded out. IBD and other reoviruses also cause very similar signs and symptoms as well as very similar post mortem tissue histology. I believe that if ppl do not know they just point to OPMV and cause panic.

My advise is to learn and utilise universal precautions for all your herps. Use quarrantine processes on new snakes. Listen to the more experienced herpers here who give advice. Learn from those who have dealt with a confirmed outbreak of the disease in their collections and be aware of your snakes health.

[cris]

To find out how its spreads would be easy, i could do it if i had money, facilities, snakes and could be bothered, the other stuff is alot harder and needs heaps more money.

You just get snakes such as Crotalids and try various forms of transmition in an experiement. It is so simple i dont understand why it hasnt been done, or im i missing something ?

[Mrs Mac]

thanks for the info nightowl it was a very interesting read.

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by cris

To find out how its spreads would be easy, i could do it if i had money, facilities, snakes and could be bothered, the other stuff is alot harder and needs heaps more money.

You just get snakes such as Crotalids and try various forms of transmition in an experiement. It is so simple i dont understand why it hasnt been done, or im i missing something ?

The point I'm making cris is that we could achieve a lot without this funding. The more open people are about cases the better information we will have in the short term prior to studies being funded let alone completed.

[adbacus]

Originally Posted by cris

To find out how its spreads would be easy, i could do it if i had money, facilities, snakes and could be bothered, the other stuff is alot harder and needs heaps more money.

You just get snakes such as Crotalids and try various forms of transmition in an experiement. It is so simple i dont understand why it hasnt been done, or im i missing something ?

As I stated = the bug that causes OPMV has not been directly isolated. Other viruses may be mistaken for OPMV. So transmission study would be flawed. It is a waste of funds without the bug itself.

Otherwise look at a study on Colombovac and the efficacy of this vaccine that is already available.

[HerpDoc]

I think you might be a bit confused adbacus, the cause of OPMV has been isolated a clue to that fact is in the name: Ophidian PARAMYXOVIRUS. The Paramyxovirus is an enveloped RNA virus 120 to 150um in diameter and 2 distinct subgroups have been shown to exist. Virus has been isolated and cultured but only from tissues harvested at postmortem.
The cause of IBD on the other hand has not been identified although a RETROVIRUS has been postulated to be the pathogen. This is a little harder to prove though becuase on electron microscope viral particles resembling retovirus have been seen in affected snakes but never cultured. The problem with this is that all animals carry retroviruses in their bodies but most of them are non-pathogenic so it is hard to interpret in this case.

[cris]

So why dont they know how its transmitted?

We cant cure HIV(unless caught very early) but since we know how it transfers it isnt a big problem for our society. It would be the same for OPMV once we know exactly how it transfers it will no longer be a big problem IMO

Also why cant a biopsy be done on live animals to diagnose it(obviously not brain tissue) ?

Also what has happend to IBD is it very common? cant say i have heard about it for many years.

[olivehydra]

Originally Posted by adbacus

As I stated = the bug that causes OPMV has not been directly isolated. Other viruses may be mistaken for OPMV. So transmission study would be flawed. It is a waste of funds without the bug itself.

Otherwise look at a study on Colombovac and the efficacy of this vaccine that is already available.

I have looked into vaccines (including colombovac) and from what I have been told there is no vaccine - (definetely here, and "probably" overseas) that has ever been shown to work on reptiles. Colombovac is a bird vaccine I think???

[HerpDoc]

Biopsies on live animals may be useful but hard to achieve. Best area is lung tissue and this is technically difficult in snakes and obviously would result in a fair amount of trauma. Other issues with biopsy are that the virus maybe atypical in its behaviour, ie living in other tissue and may be missed by biopsy. In the United States can be diagnosed anti-mortem with a haemagglutintaion inhibition test that looks for antibodies. This however is not an indication of active infection but only means expose to the virus has occurred and a rise in antibody titre is required for diagnosis of active infection. Snakes take about 8 weeks to seroconvert so if they are tested during this time they may be falsely identified as negative.
As far as transmission is concerned the main mode is considered to be airbone with contaminated utensils and cage furniture also playing a significant role so the key to prevention is HYGIENE. Cant stress this enough, this also includes good quarantine protocols and controlling ectoparasites.

[kirrachaos]

Keep this going, this stuff is a must and knowledge on how it is spread is essential, and control. Obviously prevention is the key but controling is the next step. Any references woudl be aprreciated. Thanks for all the info guys.

[-Peter]

Can food items be conclusively discounted as a source of infection as is the case with BSE and CJD. Could the similarities in the symptoms be indicative of a similar viral type or are they totally different?

[raptor]

Good on you Shane! Not only should more people be aware of the disease, they should also be aware that it's not some "mystery" disease that's only found in exotics. Also, that it's not only here, but that it's almost certainly here to stay. For those unfamiliar with Mader, yes, it's expensive (currently between $240-$300) but it's worth it's weight in gold. Another must have is the British Vetinary Association's Journal of Reptile Medicine.