Sunshine virus...

[Pythoninfinite]

I've decided to put on APS part of an extensive PM to me from the hard-working and very ethical vet, who has been doing work on these dreaded viral disorders of snakes, at a university in Perth. The man is a keen reptile keeper himself (I sold him his first snakes when I was a dealer in Perth!). I hear that there is an idiot out there who has an axe to grind elsewhere, and is trying to discredit the work of this diligent man. Makes an interesting and exciting read, especially as it is likely to be able to be tested for in live animals.

Jamie

"I saw your post about Sunshine virus. To bring you up to date, I isolated a virus from some high quality samples ******* (he's allowed me to make this stuff public) gave me. This was after screening samples for 2.5 years. Then I beat my head against the wall for another year until I figured out that the virus was not a ferlavirus (yes, you're right, named after the Fer-de-Lance viper mentioned in the first ever paper) or a reovirus but was a new paramyxovirus. And when I say new, I mean testing for ferlavirus will not detect Sunshine virus and testing for Sunshine virus will not detect ferlavirus. Lots of paramyxoviruses are named after the geographical origin of the first isolate (Hendra, Menangle, Nipah, Newcastle disease, Beilong), so our new virus was named after ******* hometown, the Sunshine Coast. Hopefully the name is memorable but it's certainly been a polarising decision. Our first paper has finally come out but its probably not going to be very interesting for the herpers. It's pretty heavy and is mainly intended for an audience of virologists. Another paper should be out later this year and that one should be more accessible. It will discuss clinical signs, gross pathology, histopathology and the results of PCR testing on different sample types (swabs, tissues, blood). In the meantime, I've been helping Shane Simpson with his S&T article.

Testing is available for ferlavirus and Sunshine virus but starting at the end of July I'm off to America for six months to walk the Appalachian Trail, so unfortunately, all testing will be on hold until early next year. I still haven't found any evidence for ferlavirus in Australia but it's probably here. Hopefully one day I'll have a couple of postgraduate students who can then run a diagnostic service but in the meantime it's just a one man show.

With regards to other viruses. I've tested some good quality samples from symptomatic animals (neuro and respiratory disease) and they have been negative for all the viruses that I can test for, so unfortunately, I think we have something else here as well... Watch this space."

 

[FAY]

Thank you for putting that up Jamie. Great information...

 

[The Reptile Outlet]

Thanks so much for posting this Jamie. What a long and extensive process this is for Tim and his associates.

He certainly puts to bed any rumours of this just being an 'urban myth' as has been claimed elsewhere.

 

[Khagan]

"So unfortunately, I think we have something else here as well... Watch this space."

Jeez, this gets scarier and scarier.

 

[Red-Ink]

I think I'm starting to hear the clicking of keyboards typing in "proper quarantine procedures" into google... or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part?

I think I just heard the lock to my rep room close as well as a sign being placed saying no new additions...

 

[Chris]

I'm a complete nuffy re this sort of thing so excuse the dumb question.... can monitors or lizards in general catch this or is it limited to snakes?

 

[saximus]

I think I'm starting to hear the clicking of keyboards typing in "proper quarantine procedures" into google... or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part?

I think I just heard the lock to my rep room close as well as a sign being placed saying no new additions...

Haha this is almost exactly what I was gonna say

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I'm a complete nuffy re this sort of thing so excuse the dumb question.... can monitors or lizards in general catch this or is it limited to snakes?

Hi Chris, as far as I know these are pretty much snake-specific.

Jamie

 

[-Peter]

I would love if they could retest all the samples that got sent to the US several years ago and came back negative.

 

[Snowman]

I wonder if it gets to the stage that all of these virus can be detected by tests, will WA allow python imports again.

 

[saximus]

I wonder if it gets to the stage that all of these virus can be detected by tests, will WA allow python imports again.

As an extension of that point (kind of), I wonder if buyers will start requesting that purchased animals come with a negative test result

 

[Variety]

As an extension of that point (kind of), I wonder if buyers will start requesting that purchased animals come with a negative test result

resulting in less breeding/higher prices. Not against the idea at all but can see it being a massive deterant for people

 

[thomasssss]

i asked this in another thread about this but ill ask again here as maybe jamie or his friend could provide a better answer , how long can the virus remain dormant before it shows signs and how long until the snake can be considered safe to remove from quarantine

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Thomassss, That's one of those questions like "how long is a piece of string...?). No one really knows about those things because there may be "silent carriers" for any of these viral disorders, that is, animals may be infected with the virus and show no symptoms either for an extended period, or maybe forever. They may, however, shed the virus at various times and infect other animals. There will be a general window of time where most animals become symptomatic, but I don't think even this is well understood with these things, and there is likely to be some exceptions.

I think that the viral diseases of reptiles, in particular, are a problem because unlike mammals and birds which operate physiologically within very narrow parameters (body temps, metabolic rates etc, are highly consistent, which makes development of disease far more predictable), our captive snakes are absolutely dependent on what we provide for them, and this is highly variable between keepers. I believe that, although we THINK we provide optimum conditions for our snakes, in small enclosures in the home environment their overall choices are extremely limited, so I would suggest that all our captive snakes kept indoors suffer some degree of physiological stress, even if we are unaware of it. All we do is try and minimise it as much as possible. This stress may well be a factor in a passive viral infection becoming active disease... but who knows?

When last I spoke to Tim, he felt that the research going on at the moment is at a very exciting point in terms of beginning to unravel some of these mysteries, but there's a long way to go.

Generally though, as in any intensively managed animal communities, the ONLY way to GUARANTEE freedom from disease is to keep your flock entirely closed, that is, no new animals, for any reason, at any time.

Jamie

 

[Manda1032]

resulting in less breeding/higher prices. Not against the idea at all but can see it being a massive deterant for people

If people are about to pay big bikkies for a top quality animal maybe as insurance they can wait a little longer and pay for a test before purchase.

 

[thomasssss]

resulting in less breeding/higher prices. Not against the idea at all but can see it being a massive deterant for people

i personally would pay the extra to know that it has been tested and come back negative the only problem would be if someone was to say it has but it hasn't been tested

thanks for that info jamie , i understand theres still alot to learn about this virus as it is relatively new , just on your point about not getting any new additions i guess the safest way to get new additions if you are looking would be to shop around alot and find someone you feel you could trust and has had their own collection 'closed' for the past few years obviously this is still going to be risky and quarantine should be followed

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Yep thomassss, probably the safest way to go forward with expanding a collection is to very carefully vet the suppliers of any new animals, and see whether they have a good understanding of the reasons for concern, that way you can at least hope they manage their own collections with care... But there are no absolute guarantees, and quarantine must be a "without any exceptions whatsoever" rule at all times.

But you'll still get people asking around in early spring, for breeding loans for the upcoming season...

Jamie