For those that don't know what happened -- Respiratory Virus in Ball Pythons

Thank you for updating this Jen! Some serious biz for the newer crowd. DO NOT ALWAYS BUY THE CHEAPEST THING YOU SEE... I cannot seem to drill this into a couple of my newer friends as all they do is shop for $$$/cheapness. I sure hope somebody pays attention.

I am definitely paying attention. This is some scary !
I had been quarantining everything for 90 days but it is in the same house, different room.
Moving forward, I will begin keeping new snakes at my office for the first 3 months.
This type of thing is why I have been sooooooooo paranoid about imports and of captive bred animals from people who have imports.

I am not new to snakes but I am new to breeding and this just scares me to even think about. The loss of life is heartbreaking.

Originally Posted by Pink Lady Exotics

Well, apparently they FINALLY identified and named this damn virus:

http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/2012/07/19...w-snake-virus/

Unfortunately there seem to be a bunch of new cases destroying collections right now as I know of 3. I asked them to come post here. Still making its way through our hobby.

Would you be able to post any names?
If those who are suffering from this or any outbreak can post some sources they recently bought from or shows they recently attended that would probably help too.
These sorts of things can come home from simply attending a show as a patron too. We should all shower as if we were going in to preform surgery when we get home from a show. I throw my clothes right into the washer and hit the shower when I get home from expos.
If I even decide to sell at shows it looks like a quarantine will be required for the animals brought to the show. I may stick to the internet to be safe.

Solomon Wise at Tomahawk Reptiles just put what was left of his collection down this weekend. He saved one sick female for fresh euthanasia and necropsy. Shane Ward has lost everything but 2 animals and is facing euthanuzing them. One is from South Carolina, the other from North Carolina, and the only thing they have in common is the Columbia, SC Repticon Show on November 3/4. Solomon vended directly across from the person Shane traded with. Shane usually quarantines but for whatever reason, got home from the show and stuck the new snakes in his collection room. Everything started after they got home from this show. All of this was told to me from Shane and Solomon, they are being very public in order to warn people and I am trying to help track down this vendor.

Shane did not get the name of the vendor and he had no business name or logo that either him or Solomon remembers. They do remember he was from Pennsylvania. A third show attendee, Chrystal Kerr, posted on the Upstate SC reptile FB group that she lost everything to this virus as well and burned the tubs and her clothes. She had talked to Shane and stopped by the same tables he did.

3 other people have posted in response to Solomon that they too lost their collections to this paramyxovirus since my case in 2007/2008.

Jason VanderWaal lost his collection recently this year.

Sid Wright lost over 100 snakes in 2010/2011.

Paul R. Moody lost all 159 snakes in 2009.

I am trying to talk to those 3 and find out if they ever identified the source of their infections.

When I went through my virus outbreak, I had a contact in Germany that I was put in touch with by Colette Sutherland. Gerlinde ran RoyalSnakes and had experience and knowledge working with vets that were familiar with OPMV. She is the person that put my DVM in touch with her DVM in Germany in order to ship in the Columbovac vaccine in our attempt to stop the virus. Back then, she e-mailed me about a new case of Paramyxovirus in Germany that affected a friend of hers. When she told me where it came from, I found it interesting because this breeder did a LOT of business with Damian Wyatt (from Wyatt's own words) and vended at the same shows he did. I avoided putting this info out publicly because for a long time, I was the only one that had gone through this and everyone thought maybe it was just a fluke. Now with this virus having been identified, named, and affected all these other people, I feel that it's time to put this out here. I do not know whether this person confronted the supposed source, what he said in response, or what came of it. After I euthanized my collection, I stopped contacting anyone, including Gerlinde. So I don't know what happened after this.



Then today, I hear from another victim I mentioned that it is in Germany which I had also heard:



Paul mentioned knowing a few others that have gone through this, and when I asked for names and more info, he replied that one is deceased, and the other 2 came from Texas and Tennesee. He also mentions a 4th victim from the Columbia show:



I am hoping to get more info from everyone that has gone through this.

For the record, here are screenshots of the conversations confirming what I stated above.

Here is where Shane Ward mentions that he is also going through the same thing right now. Also where Solomon Wise mentions that he and Shane have nothing in common other than attending the same show (Repticon in Columbia, SC on November 3-4):



Here is where Shane described where Solomon's table was located and where the vendor was that he had traded with that was across from Solomon:



Here Solomon mentions that he doesn't remember a name or business name or logo, but that the guy was from Pennsylvania:



Here Solomon confirms that no one he has sold animals to has had any issues or illnesses, thus it was not in his by collection prior to the show:



Here another member of the South Carolina reptile community informs me of the third victim, Chrystal Kerr, and her post on the Upstate SC Sell/Trade group on Facebook:



I immediately sent a join request to the group which was approved on Friday the 29th, but when I searched for her post I found nothing. Tonight Brian explained that the post became an attack on her and massive fight with foul language, so the admins deleted it. I sent Chrystal a friend request but she has not approved me thus far.

Then tonight, I was contacted by Bonnie Hyatt, a former Repticon employee that states she too has lost several animals since this Columbia show. I am waiting on her to reply and answer questions on what species she has lost, if the symptoms are the same or if she has had any necropsies or testing done, etc:



So that makes 5 people with sick/dead animals after this Columbia, SC Repticon show. Solomon Wise, Shane Ward, Chrystal Kerr, Bonnie Hyatt, and an unnamed person put forth by Paul R. Moody that purchased ratsnakes at the show. I am trying to track down who these people purchased from, which vendors they came into contact with, where they themselves had tables set up at (if any), etc.

Also, and this may just be a coincidence, but in the very first screenshot I posted up above, Jason VanderWaal mentions that he lost his entire collection to this virus as well...and he happens to be married to the Repticon Mid-Atlantic Vendor Coordinator (Monica VanderWaal):



Again, that could just be coincidence, but was worth mentioning.

I looked at the vendor table assignment map as posted on the Repticon website for the November Columbia show. Solomon (Tomahawk Reptiles) was assigned to P 17-19, which was against the right wall by the bleachers as Shane mentioned. So if the vendor Shane traded with was across from Solomon, then according to the Repticon map, it was one of the following:

Robinette Reptiles -- C 11-13 & 16 -- From North Carolina

Full Spectrum Reptiles -- Entire D Section -- From Unknown Location (I found "Full Spectrum Pets" from Massachusetts on Facebook, and they sell ball python morphs among many things)

Simply Ill Exotics -- F 1 -- From Tennessee

MD Reptiles -- F 2-5 -- From North Carolina (There was also a vendor called MD Reptiles & Rescue that was in pictures of the show but not on the vendor list, and they are from Maryland)

HOWEVER: Tables C14 and C15 on Repticon's map have no vendor assigned anywhere on the list. So either they were empty, or they had a vendor that was not listed...and those tables happened to be directly across from Solomon as well.

I am currently sorting through more tidbits and various peoples' pictures of the show to see what I can figure out. I will keep updating this thread as this all unfolds.

Sorry, I made a mistake on MD Reptiles. That should have been G 1-4, not F 2-5, and that would have been Suffolk Selects from Virginia. MD Reptiles was in the center.

Also, based on Repticon's pictures of the show, I'm seeing a lot of vendors that are nowhere on their vendor list -- SlytherynHiss Exotics, MD Reptiles & Rescue, House of Reptiles, Deep South Pythons, just to name a few. And some of these are pretty big display setups. So it makes me wonder how much control and organization is actually kept over who they permit to vend at their events, or if they even know every vendor that shows? This makes it almost impossible to track down a vendor if there's a problem...

The pics from the show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/reptico...7636631971766/

Are you fairly certain this is an airborne virus?

I believe we may be jumping the gun on this. Not one person that has been affected yet has gotten neocropsy reports back yet. Solomon is a close friend and I hate what happened to his collection but before I panic I want to see the reports.