Identification, Characterization, and In Vitro Culture of Highly Divergent Arenaviruses from Boa Constrictors and Annulated Tree Boas: Candidate Etiological Agents for Snake Inclusion Body Disease

Stenglein, Mark D.; Sanders, Chris; Kistler, Amy L.; Ruby, J. Graham; Franco, Jessica Y.; Reavill, Drury R.; Dunker, Freeland; DeRisi, Joseph L.

IBD is an important disease of captive snakes. While the specific mode of transmission is unknown, it is likely that the elimination of diseased snakes will greatly reduce the likelihood of transmission, even if there exists an intermediate vector. The availability of a diagnostic test, whether by RT-PCR or by virusspecific antibodies, will prevent the introduction of infected, but possibly asymptomatic, snakes into healthy collections. Ultimately, diagnostically driven surveillance by veterinarians will likely identify outbreaks or hot spots of the disease and perhaps one day lead to adequate control of this previously vexing condition. Furthermore, vaccines exist or are in development for some arenaviruses (21, (55) (56) (57) , and ribavirin and other drugs have been shown to be effective in decreasing the severity of disease caused by hemorrhagic fever-causing arenaviruses (21, 58, 59) . This offers hope that arenavirus-targeting vaccines or treatments could be effective against snake IBD.