Abstract
The Blue Iguana Recovery Programme maintains a captive breeding and head-starting program for endangered Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. In May 2015, program staff encountered two lethargic wild Grand Cayman blue iguanas within the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park (QEIIBP). Spiral-shaped bacteria were identified on peripheral blood smears from both animals, which molecular diagnostics identified as a novel Helicobacter species (provisionary name Helicobacter sp. GCBI1). Between March 2015 and February 2017, 11 Grand Cayman blue iguanas were identified with the infection. Two of these were found dead and nine were treated; five of the nine treated animals survived the initial infection. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene suggests Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 is most closely related to Helicobacter spp. in chelonians. We developed a Taqman qPCR assay specific for Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 to screen tissue and/or blood samples from clinical cases, fecal and cloacal samples from clinically healthy Grand Cayman blue iguanas, including previously infected and recovered iguanas, and iguanas housed adjacent to clinical cases. Fecal and/or cloacal swab samples were all negative, suggesting that Grand Cayman blue iguanas do not asymptomatically carry this organism nor shed this pathogen per cloaca post infection. Retrospective analysis of a 2014 mortality event affecting green iguanas (Iguana iguana) from a separate Grand Cayman location identified Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 in two of three cases. The source of infection and mode of transmission are yet to be confirmed. Analysis of rainfall data reveal that all infections occurred during a multi-year dry period, and most occurred shortly after the first rains at the end of seasonal drought. Additionally, further screening has identified Helicobacter sp. GCBI1 from choanal swabs of clinically normal green iguanas in the QEIIBP, suggesting they could be asymptomatic carriers and a potential source of the pathogen.
Highlights
Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) are large, ground-dwelling iguanas endemic to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
We describe the detection of this organism associated with illness and mortality in invasive free-ranging green iguanas on Grand Cayman remote from the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park (QEIIBP), and in apparently healthy invasive free-ranging green iguanas within the QEIIBP
The results of the thorough clinicopathologic approach to these mortality events described reduce the likelihood of other principal causes and strengthen the probability that these mortalities are a result of infection by this novel Helicobacter species
Summary
Grand Cayman blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) are large, ground-dwelling iguanas endemic to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. The BIRP is operated by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands in partnership with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment and a range of international organizations. It maintains a captive breeding, head-starting and release facility within the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park (QEIIBP) on Grand Cayman (Fig 1). Over the last 30 years, the BIRP has incrementally restored wild breeding populations of Grand Cayman blue iguanas in the QEIIBP, and in two National Trust for the Cayman Islands protected areas in eastern Grand Cayman, the Salina Reserve and the Colliers Wilderness Reserve. Activities have included pre-release evaluations, health assessments, and annual examinations of Grand Cayman blue iguanas at the breeding facility, as well as freeranging iguanas [2,3,4]
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