OPMV defamation rumors

[geckodan]

So Dan we know you have a close affiliation with PilbaraPythons and iceman as part of the breeders syndicate. Are you saying that what killed this snake is likely to be the same virus as what killed your snakes?

I personally would like to know just how many animals have been exchanged between the members of this syndicate and who is likely to be at risk.

I had obtained 80% directly as wild caught specimens out of WA (the safest source of animals in my opinion) The remainder came from non affiliated sources in QLD. So in answer to your question, "No idea if its the same".

 

[redbellybite]

I think that is the main issue RBB, that if the general concensus between the parties involved is to "Not take the risk if it could be OPMV (or CVE ) and LOCK DOWN" then shouldn't that mean that every single person that has bought a python from these parties in the last year be doing the same? It is very well for iceman and pilbara pythons to go into lockdown mode, but if in six months time they discover that it is actually OPMV, then i fear it will be too late for the others that had previously bought from them and hadn't done the same...

Well what are you trying to say ? that all snakes involved should be put down ?
Lock down at this stage is about the only logical thing to do ,and if owners that bought from this breeder fear it could involve them as well then yes lock down for those snakes as well .
as I said before dont jump the gun ..

 

[JasonL]

Good work Danny, I have had my doubts for many years about the whole OPMV thing, and have always thought it was more than one virus, and we are most probably dealing with a few native forms as well as OS ones. I might go a step further and say I believe that not all these viruses effect all snakes the same way, and believe that a strong snake could probably harbour such a virus for many many years without it showing. Some of these viruses may not be as bad as what we generally think when we think of such things as "OPMV" wiping out every snake in a collection within weeks, and may only cause death in weaker animals or during times of stress ect, staying alive in collections undetected thus making them easily and unknowingly spread from collection to collection.

 

[Sturdy]

. Regardless of the causative agent it is evil, unpredictable, contagious and there is more about it that we just don't know - call it CVE (Contagious Viral Encephalitis), clump them all together and treat them all the same until we know more (which is going to take a bloody long time). How you deal with them is your perogative. There are no hard and fast rules as we DON'T KNOW WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH.

Remember:
CVE
CVE
CVE
CVE
CVE

100% agree,
We should al start using CVE,

as to other mentioned posts this strain of CVE could be anything,

Does anyone know of any further testing that has occured recently on CVE in general?

 

[wokka]

It is my understanding that "the red dots in cells" are consistent with a number of virus apart from the big O. Perhaps the labs should be encouraged to use the wording "cosistent with CVE" to get the message out there that there are likely to be other Contagious Viral Encephalitis types out there which may behave differently to the big O.

 

[matt86]

It's really scary hey...
The hardest part is, nobody can tell you what these viruses actually are, or how we, as a community, can work towards eradicating them.

I recently bought 2 new snakes, and have them in a totally seperate part of the house... I only handle them AFTER my original collection, and shower & change clothes when I'm done... As far as I know this is the best I can do, but because we don't know specifically how it spreads, it's still worrying...

How often do these viruses turn up in collections? I've only heard of a few cases in the last couple of years... but I guess the big challenge is people feeling too intimidated to come forward... or worse still... people wanting to hide it so they can sell off infected animals for a quick buck...

 

[fidzy]

after reading all the replies its obvious that we will never get a 100% answer which says these snakes had OPMV... therefore i feel very sorry for pilbara pythons as there business and the confidence that everyone had in their reptiles has gone down the drain...... hopefully we can see a positive outcome but i highly doubt it

 

[Perko]

Whats it matter if its OPMV or CVE or ABC?

The snake died from it, so regardless of what everyone wants speculate it is, its a massive problem.

How many animals have changed hands in this syndicate???

 

[geckodan]

It is my understanding that "the red dots in cells" are consistent with a number of virus apart from the big O. Perhaps the labs should be encouraged to use the wording "cosistent with CVE" to get the message out there that there are likely to be other Contagious Viral Encephalitis types out there which may behave differently to the big O.

Contagious Viral Encephalitis (CVE) is my wording. It has not been suggested to the wider community and is not is general use. Its how I wrap my head around the problem and find it easier to explain.

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Fidzy
You have no need to feel sorry for Pilbara Pythons as our stock from WA remains unaffected.
My involvement was the offer to advertise Lukes reptiles temporarily on my site (which have now been removed). In fact it probably makes purchasing snakes directly off Pilbara Pythons and other W.A collectors the safest option of all.
Off note, I became Lukes part time spokesman for 2 reasons, 1 is that he is a shift worker and is often not around to read or to participate, and 2, the fact that I did after all allow some of his stock on to my web site. Unfortunately for Luke, a small number of his reptiles came from an additional source in Cairns.

One of the lads who started this new thread rang me yesterday and did discuss his situation with me and expressed interest in posting this thread, I definitely did not discourage him. It needs to be remembered, that he is a victim here.

Regards Dave

 

[owcurat]

How is it I have just spent 20mins reading 4 pages of posts on a highly infectious disease with almost no mention of quarantine? By quarantining new animals you avoid having to “lock down” your collection if you have a suspicious case. ALL new animals into your collection should be quarantined for a minimum of 3 months (I know of some collections that have an 18 month quarantine period). Even within your collection a reasonable level of quarantine between animals is advisable. I can’t help but agree with Danny that if amateur herpetoculturalists (is that a real word?) don’t change their attitudes their hobby is doomed. As a side note I don’t know of any vet in this country I would trust more to diagnose reptile disease than Dr David Vella.

 

[geckodan]

Whats it matter if its OPMV or CVE or ABC?

The snake died from it, so regardless of what everyone wants speculate it is, its a massive problem.

How many animals have changed hands in this syndicate???

Very few. From a snake point of view it is a group of isolated collections 100's of km apart with their own personal breeding projects (some do BHP's, some do stimmies etc.). I firmly believe that the WA animals are not the problem (source) but the other animals introduced into the collection have acted as the source. Its the origin of these animals that needs to be questioned.

 

[fidzy]

Fidzy
You have no need to feel sorry for Pilbara Pythons as our stock from WA remains unaffected.
My involvement was the offer to advertise Lukes reptiles temporarily on my site (which have now been removed). In fact it probably makes purchasing snakes directly off Pilbara Pythons and other W.A collectors the safest option of all.
Off note, I became Lukes part time spokesman for 2 reasons, 1 is that he is a shift worker and is often not around to read or to participate, and 2, the fact that I did after all allow some of his stock on to my web site. Unfortunately for Luke, a small number of his reptiles came from an additional source in Cairns.

One of the lads who started this new thread rang me yesterday and did discuss his situation with me and expressed interest in posting this thread, I definitely did not discourage him. It needs to be remembered, that he is a victim here.

Regards Dave

good to hear!!! i havent heard a bad thing about you guys so would hate to see you lose that reputation

 

[Perko]

Fidzy
Unfortunately for Luke, a small number of his reptiles came from an additional source in Cairns.

Regards Dave

So is this person going to be named?

 

[Hetty]

I don't know much about viruses so maybe someone can answer. I'm thinking it's possible that these viruses are not always fatal, and that some animals have immunity. Haven't some viruses (I think they were described as "strains of OPMV" before) been found in wild snakes? Unless we put them there then wild snakes must have some immunity.


Put down your pitchfork Craig, there's no need to name this person unless they have animals dying.

 

[waruikazi]

Whats it matter if its OPMV or CVE or ABC?

The snake died from it, so regardless of what everyone wants speculate it is, its a massive problem.

How many animals have changed hands in this syndicate???

OMG it's massive! All of one snake died from it (well arguably three) but it's massive!

I want a royal commission into all the syndicates anywhere and everywhere!

If i told you all some of the details i know about some breeders, and i know for fact, with all your current attitudes you would never buy another reptile again! I can also tell you that i have 100% been exposed to 'CVE' that ripped through a well known collection and i have had an entire clutch of hatchies die, yet i have still sold reptiles around Australia since and not had a single problem relayed to me.

These things can be kept under control without too much hassel. Anyone can be unlucky enough to pick some kind of patho up and as soon as it shows itself anyone can deal with it. Everyone don't be so quick to judge, the way we're all carrying on is doing nothing to deal with this situation. If you have or do pick up a virus don't go witch hunting and looking for someone to blame. Deal with it.

 

[JasonL]

Yes Hetty, there are contagious viral diseases in wild populations, and it is spread into collections more than you think, though usually you don't hear of it because a; most people still don't like to admitt they lost half their collection in 3 weeks and b; the source of the virus has come from an illegally caught snake. Whether or not the hobby has spead the virus into the wild or if it has always been there will probably remain a mystery.

 

[foxysnake]

Ive been reading these posts or skimming them - I confess, but does it concern anyone else that there are 'scribbled' out portions in both these 'official' documents?,

and to my knowledge, why was there such reluctance on the buyers end to send any of this information to the breeder? Lol, as Dave says Luke isnt on here much, so when he does log in - this will be the first time he sees these 'officail' documents!!

To the buyers, I'd like to send a spec msg to you both to dbl check the dates of contact between yourself and breeder and the autopsys etc - there seems to be a bit of discrepency.......... (Maybe that is why you were so reluctant to pass the info to the breeder?)

Cheers,
As always,
Dee.

 

[NCHERPS]

Ive been reading these posts or skimming them - I confess, but does it concern anyone else that there are 'scribbled' out portions in both these 'official' documents?,


Dee.

The scribbled out portions look like his personal name and address details to me, if he hadn't scribbled it out, we would of insisted that it be removed anyway before posting in public forum.

 

[reptilegirl_jordan]

wow all to scary...