Respiratory virus in ball pythons...

I'm sorry for the losses, Jen. I've been there and I know it hurts. Best of luck.

Jen I am sorry for your losses, and for the difficult time you are having.
I have a question- is this virus species-specific, does the reptile virus stay in reptiles only?

Does anyone know if it affects boas too? I have a friend who bought a boa from the company mentioned in the BOI thread.

What if the vector isn't snakes? A new snake isn't the only new arrival into Jen's collection; several weeks prior to that, she received 20 African Soft Furred rats, according to what she said on a soft furred rat site. She did not have these kinds of rats before.
Is it possible that they could be carriers of a virus? Certainly, not everyone who has the rats has illness, just like not everyone who owns a dog has rabies.
The rats have been spreading through the US and in particular, owners of BPs are buying them since it is said that BPs may eat them when they are not eating other offered animals.
While many people quarantine new snake arrivals, I'm not sure if anyone quarantines rodents because we don't expect them to carry anything that affects our collections.
I'm not saying that this is happening, I'm just saying that BP owners across the country are buying these rodents, and I'm just asking whether this virus is species specific, or whether particular rodents could be carriers.

Well that's certainly an interesting theory.

Originally Posted by lucille

She did not have these kinds of rats before.

False -- go back and read the rest of my threads on that forum. I have kept these rats for quite a long time -- that was just a new batch I had brought in to replace my old and retired colony and start some new genetic lines of color/pattern. These rats are only fed to two snakes -- neither of which has gotten sick. None of the rats have gotten sick either. That was the first thing I asked my vet -- if this could have come from prey. He said absolutely not, there are only 2 illnesses besides parasites that he knows of that can pass from prey to snake, and they are bacterial. The chance of it happening is so minut that it isn't even considerable at this point. <--------- His words.

As for it spreading to other snakes, we don't know yet. That is one of the tests that they're going to determine. So far, my 3 rainbow boas and my 2 cornsnakes are just fine.

Well, after thinking the worst was over, 3 new snakes have come down with it. Sita, my last 3000g female, Maggie, my albino that I raised up from a tiny 82g hatchling, and Angel, my beautiful blushed out breeder female that was a skinny rescue I took in. They have been doing just fine, eating weekly -- then 4 days ago, they showed symptoms. Today, they are on death's doorstep. In looking at the 9 snakes total now that have been sick/died, the length of time from exposure to active infection and the symptomatic period from beginning to death have been so widely varied and different, from 1 day to 10 days to 2 months.

I had a very long conversation with Dr. Gordon today. He left a message at the lab for them to get back to him on where they're at so far. I did a lot of research on OPMV after it was brought to my attention a few weeks ago, and after bringing it up to my vet and having him grab the new Mader book and look into it along with what I've printed out, this is our new theory as to what they have. The symptoms and timelines are too close of a match for it to be coincidental, and it would explain transmission (airborne) because we were at a loss as to how it was transmitting if it were a rhabdovirus. The problem is, quarantine in a separate room doesn't do squat with OPMV because the house shares one ventilation system -- so air transfers between all the rooms via the heating system. We still would have to do titers on the remaining snakes to determine who was exposed, infected, carrier, etc. We may have to euthanize some, but all the research on OMPV online and in the Mader book says that if 3 months pass after the last death with no new illnesses or deaths, than it can be assumed that all remaining animals are healthy (immune system has beaten the virus or was never infected). We will be re-checking titers after that 3 month period (if we ever get to that point) to be sure.

I have found various cases in the UK where a bird vaccine (Colombovac) proved successful in preventing further illness/death when given to the remaining healthy-appearing snakes...so he is trying to track some down, may have to special order it, and we are going to start giving it to the remaining snakes, even though we haven't gotten a definitive answer yet. It won't hurt them, and if it does end up being OPMV, then they could be protected.

Maggie doesn't look like she is going to make it much longer -- according to the research done by Dr. Elliot Jacobson at the University of Florida, she is in stage 3. I'm really hurting for her right now.

Most importantly, I want to thank those that have sent checks to the clinic in donation to the costs of lab work and research for this entire situation -- I did not ask how much they were for, because any amount is going to help. He could not give me names off hand because he had them stored away in my file, so to whoever sent in, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. It is a much-appreciated show of goodwill and caring during this trying time.

Hopefully I will have more answers soon -- please keep my animals in your thoughts that no more have to suffer this painful death.

Oh man. I had read a few things about some kind of virus you had dealt with, and were still dealing with, but I had no idea it was on this level. I just read almost all of your blog. I'm so sorry for all of your losses, and I wish you the best of luck in the future, as well as hope that you don't let this defeat you.

Hey Jen,
I know you and I have been in contact in the past. I know I kind of got a lot of stuff started when I was posting trying to find info on that breeder in Texas. I think that this all came from there and definitely not from your rats. I have been much luckier with my situation. I told you that the one arrived sick and the vet even agreed it had to be sick upon arrival. I had 2 others that came down with the same symptoms. At this point they have both past. I treated the pastel with the Baytril and the fortaz he seemed to beat the disorder. He then got sick again a couple of weeks later. Now the wierd part is the pastel appears to be healthy again. Ate just this past weekend no longer wheezing and the damaged eye he had has healed. I am just really nervous since you said everybody sick had past at your place and now there are ne sick snakes. I would really like to hear how things turn out for you. I am keeping a close eye on my snakes. My womas and carpets have not had a problem and one of my carpets was living directly above one of my sick snakes. Good Luck Jen and keep me posted. Thanks Mike

Hey Jen, It's been a while since I followed your situation. I was just wondering- did you ever get any lab results back that proved the virus to be either Paramyxovirus or the Rhabdo- type virus?