A NOVEL IGUANID HERPESVIRUS DETECTED IN ASYMPTOMATIC GREEN IGUANAS (IGUANA IGUANA) IN POLAND.

Abstract

While herpesviruses are well-known pathogens in a wide variety of chelonian species, they have only sporadically been documented in squamate reptiles. Those that have been described have most often been associated with hepatic disease and oral lesions. During a study on infectious disease in pet reptiles in Poland, herpesviruses were detected in swabs from three green iguanas (Iguana iguana) from two different owners that were presented to two different veterinary clinics in Warsaw. One iguana was presented for abscesses on the head, while the other two were partner animals and remained clinically healthy throughout the course of this study. Virus was detected in oral swabs as well as combined swab samples from the oral cavity and cloaca using a panherpesvirus PCR. PCR products from all three animals were sequenced, and the detected viruses were most closely related to iguanid herpesvirus 2 from a San Esteban chuckwalla (Sauromalus varius) in the United States (GenBank accession No. AY236869.1). The single animal was retested again 1 y later and remained clinically healthy and continued to shed the same herpesvirus. This is the first description of a herpesvirus infection in pet iguanas in Europe. While the clinical relevance of the infection is not known, it is of interest that the infected animals appeared to continue to shed virus over an extended period of time.