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When I used the word 'identify' I was referring to the actual isolation of a pathogen. When someone has the chicken pox you know it's the chicken pox just by looking at a person expressing the many pustules. However, I'm sure it took a ton of time and resources to actual isolate the virus responsible for it. All I was saying is that for those of us that have worked with zonata as long as we have, it's easy to identify an animal that is showing the classic tell-tale symptoms of ZD. The actual pathogen that might be responsible for it has not been identified, nor do I think it will be an easy venture to do so. Personally, I think it's a pathogen that responsible for the sickness, but only becomes active under certain environmental conditions. That's just my opinion. It could be purely environmental, but I don't think the evidence points to that. Stu's snakes in his pictures are snakes with classic ZD. Why is that such a big deal for so many people to accept? I even said in my long post that anyone who has ever worked with zonata long enough has had the misfortune, or will have the misfortune of dealing with this. It doesn't make you a bad person if you have snakes that are infected with it. You'd only be a bad person if you sold sick snakes with the knowledge that they were sick. I don't believe Jerry did that. In fact I'm sure they looked perfectly healthy when they left his house. I even think he may never have had an outbreak in his colony. That still doesn't detract from the nearly obvious case that Stu's snakes are displaying ZD and that the stock Jerry purchased came from a breeder who's zonata colony was once hammered with ZD. It's an easy connection that can be made, the only issue was how Stu and Jerry dealt with Stu getting sick animals.
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