Investigating the epidemiology of Terrapene herpesvirus 1 in freeranging eastern box turtle populations

Epidemiology;herpesvirus;Eastern box turtle;qPCR;Terrapene carolina;disease

Kane, Lauren P ; Allender ; Matthew C.

关键词: Epidemiology;    herpesvirus;    Eastern box turtle;    qPCR;    Terrapene carolina;    disease;   

Others  :  https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/90487/KANE-THESIS-2016.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Herpesviruses are ubiquitous, well described pathogens in captive chelonians worldwide, but their importance on free-ranging populations are less defined. In this thesis, a quantitative PCR was developed that detected a 58 base pair segment of the DNA polymerase gene segment of Terrapene herpesvirus 1 (Order: Herpesvirales; Family: Herpesviridae; Subfamily: Alphaherpesvirinae; Genus: Scutavirus). This assay was used to estimate prevalence of herpesvirus infection in 409 free-ranging eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) from Tennessee and Illinois. The overall prevalence in this study population was 31.3% (95% confidence interval: 27-36%), with a significantly higher prevalence in July (52.3%; 95% CI: 41-59%) compared to May (13.3%; 95% CI: 5-15%) and September (34.4%; 95% CI: 29-47%). Clinical signs recorded in box turtles were not significantly associated with herpesvirus infection and may be attributed to a latency period. The work presented in this thesis aids in characterizing the epidemiology of herpesvirus in chelonians.