26th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, April 21-24, 2000
Abstracts

Detection of Antibody to Mycoplasma agassizii in Tortoise Species

Mary B. Brown, Diane Duke, Daniel R. Brown, Elliot R. Jacobson, and Paul A. Klein
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0880

Over the past five years we have screened over 7,000 sera from a wide variety of tortoise and turtle species for the presence of antibody to Mycoplasma agassizii, the etiologic agent of upper respiratory tract disease (URTD). While the majority of these samples were obtained from either gopher or desert tortoises, a large number of samples representing tortoises from private collections and zoological collections have been screened. Samples were obtained from 19 different states and represented 30 different tortoise or turtle species. For the purposes of this report, results are reported only for species which had at least 10 animals sampled. Specific antibody to M. agassizii was detected in the African spur thighed (32% seropositive), Aldabra (27% seropositive), French (26% seropositive), Galapagos (8% seropositive), radiated (22% seropositive), star (75% seropositive) and leopard (73% seropositive) tortoises. Box (23% seropositive) and bog (16% seropositive) turtles also tested positive. No seropositive animals were detected in spider tortoises. During the same time period, positive tests were found for 21% of desert and 36% of gopher tortoises tested. The results of these surveys suggest that M. agassizii is capable of colonizing and perhaps infecting many of the tortoise species commonly kept in private collections and zoological collections. Although clinical history was not available on all of these animals, at least some had documented clinical signs compatible with URTD. Therefore it is important that individuals or zoological collections exercise caution and practice good management and quarantine procedures to prevent spread of disease among captive species.