Pogona Adenovirus Testing Society
I wanted to inform people that they need to be aware of the Adeno virus that has been present in the bearded dragon population for quite some time. It has shown itself to be quite extensive now here in the United States. There are several strains & can go hand in hand with corona virus & the dependo virus. They are hard to tell apart due to their small structures of cells. However, the virus' are usually species specific.
Some symptoms of Adenovirus greatly vary. It is an overall suppression of the immune system which will leave them vulnerable & more prone to illness & disease. Routes of transmission have not been scientifically proven yet but are said to be fecal/oral & through the cloacal area & the egg sac. There have been no documented cases of transmission due to respiratory droplets, thus far.
Some generalized symptoms include the overall failure to thrive no matter what the husbandry consists of, inability to get the coccidia to an acceptalbe level for prolonged periods of time despite treatments. Other reported symptoms have been neurological type problems such as eye to tongue coordination difficulties which makes it hard to catch prey. Also, another seemingly common problem is called stargazing which is staring upwards towards the sky. Stargazing is basically defined as a mental dullness, abnormal posture, & the inability to move in a normal way. Other main causes of stargazing are also heat damage, trauma, & bacterial agents which are the most common sources.
One other problem we are seeing is poor or malabsorption problems with calcium which can lead to metabolic bone problems. This tends to happen more frequently in the German Giant morphs due to the accelerated rate of growth especially when they are young, they use more calcium than what they can process or take in.
To sum up, Adenovirus has been around since at least 1996 here in the US. That first documented case was in a female Pogona Barbata in 1990 at the Auckland Zoological Park, New Zealand. The second case was here in the US in 1994 in Illinois, which was a Rankins dragon or a Pogona Henrylawsoni. The third case was by Jacobson in 1996, here in the US with animals from Iowa & California involved, the Pogona Vitticeps. Bearded dragons were brought over the the US in the 1980's for the pet trade & have quickly gained popularity in the reptile industry.
Some important things to remember if you do have a bearded dragon currently & are planning or think you may be planning on breeding, please get your dragon tested for the Adenovirus. If they are positive, do the repsonsible thing & do not breed a positive dragon because it will spread. Adults can be carriers & not exhibit any symptoms & remain relatively healthy while living a normal life. However, other adults that are carriers can exhibit signs of illness with this virus. Genetics play a role in why some can handle the virus better than others, survival of the fittest.
In babies, it tends to manifest itself quickly & very harshly. If babies can get past their initial stress of being relocated to a new home, fighting high levels of coccidia & undergoing medical treatment & supportive nutritional care then it is possible that their immune systems might strengthen enough to where they could make it to a healthy adulthood.
What you can you do if you do have a dragon that has adenovirus is give supportive care of plenty of fluids, quality vitamins & minerals, including vitamin C & keep the living conditions emmaculately clean & sanitary, the temps optimal, & stress levels low.
If you currently have a dragon who does not have adenovirus & are considering purchasing another bearded dragon, it isn't recommended to keep positive & negative animals together unless you are an experienced keeper who will keep them in separate rooms with exceptionally clean & sanitary standards.
While nothing is guaranteed, testing is better than not testing at all. There are no false positives, but there can be false negatives. Always quarantine your dragons for at least 160 days when bringing in another one to your home, even if they have all been tested, it is just a good practice to do.
Our focus is on the survival of the species. If we are going to have a diverse & clean genepool of the bearded dragons, we all have to work together to raise the standards of breeding here in the United States.
****UPDATED: April 23, 07:
The types of testing have been discussed in an article by Dr. Elliott Jacobson from the University of Florida in great detail. It is now known that the nested PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test is the most accurate way to determine the Adenovirus in Bearded Dragon since it is specific to the strain present in infected Bearded Dragons, not just in an animal in general.
The contact information for Dr. Elliott Jacobson is:
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
ChildressA@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu
352-392-4700 ext: 5775
There is tons more information that I could give you but it is extremely lengthy! To spare you from that, if you would like to read the document in full put out by Dr. Elliott Jacobson just recently, go to this link:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98102
Thank you for taking the time in reading & in making informed decisions for the longevity of your dragon in the future.
Tracie Kretzschmar, MS
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We Miss You, Steve Irwin!!
Updated 1-01-08
I have been meaning to do some updates on new symptoms that have been affecting bearded dragons with Adeno Virus.
Recently, I have learned that there have been some dragons that have begun to suffer from mouth & gumline swelling which when cultured, the mold & fungus aspergillus has been detected. It appears to be causing a thrush type of problem which causes difficulty in chewing & excess saliva as well. This is more like a yeast type of infection which appears to be elevated by the bacteria in those particular feeders which affects dragons with suppressed immune systems more easily than dragons with non suppressed immune systems.
It has been treated successfully with different yeast treatments such as monistat, lamisil & other products similiar to that one. Another problem is that the mold & fungus seems to want to migrate to the lungs causing an array of other problems, making it very difficult to treat without overmedicating for a respiratory related infection.
The dragons have just adapted to having a swollen mouth & gums & they have continued eating without being on any medication for that. In some instances when the swelling would flare up the feeding schedule would strictly be soft foods & slurries because of the difficulty or inability to chew anything for awhile.
An interesting find is that silkworms & hornworms were fed during this time & were found to be the culprit & carriers of that specific aspergillus mold & fungus. This would most likely not affect a non-immune suppressed dragon but in this case it affected them as such. The bacteria levels have to be kept as low as possible in order to help keep their immune system functioning optimally.
There have also been several reports of complications with the muscles & orbit of the eye that ruptures or tears which becomes irritated & inflammed in some instances. The infection is very resistant to antibiotic eye drops & ointments. The cases have all gradually subsided with time, due to the muscle becoming stronger & with proper care the bacteria that had invaded the minute tears went away.
I believe that as the dragon gets a bit older & the immune system develops more fully that they have less liklihood of severe outbreaks unless husbandry is off or they are stressed from something. We are learning more & more on how to fight symtoms & treat the symptoms in Adeno Virus positive bearded dragons. The more cases that are presented to us, the more we can help.
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Update: 2-18-2009
I wanted to elaborate on some calcium issues that we have been seeing quite a bit of lately. I do believe that the rate of growth is directly proportionate to the amount of calcium that is needed for utilization of their system for bone strength & upkeep. The German giant morphs in particular, have a rapid rate of growth many times, & the dragon simply cannot keep up with the calcium absorption needs & demands put on the bones while growing & will often times develop calcium issues.
However, there have been alot of cases that I have seen where the husbandry was perfect & the calcium intake was fine for the apparent growth rate. There were a few changes made with the type of calcium that was being given. The changes were to include going from supplementing powdered calcium to a liquid calcium intake instead. This seemed to have a positive effect on them & they seemed to absorb the calcium much more efficiently as well. This appears to be a problem within the renal system in which the powder is not absorbed well enough & it is not broken down & assimilated like the liquid calcium is. I do think that it is easier to control the amount of liquid calcium given than the powdered calcium so that may come into the equation as well.
We are continuing to gather more data on Adeno Virus. Hopefully one day, we will have more definitive answers.
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Updated 6-24-09:
We will no longer be offering the fecal Electron Microscopy adenovirus testing due to funding with the University of Illinois. However, we are now offering the Polymerase Chain Reaction test through the Research Associates Lab with Ernie Colaizzi in Dallas, Texas. This will be a test which will confirm all results absolutely.
We are very excited to be offering this test in order to make testing more affordable. Our goal is still to one day, have a large percentage of clean bearded dragon colonies that are Adenovirus free in the future.