Sudden Death in Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps)
Sudden Death in Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps)
Sudden Death in Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps)
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<strong>Sudden</strong> <strong>Death</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>Bearded</strong> <strong>Dragons</strong><br />
(<strong>Pogona</strong> <strong>vitticeps</strong>)<br />
Natalie Fowlkes and Sanjeev Gumber<br />
Anatomic Pathology Resident<br />
Louisiana State Univeristy<br />
School of Veter<strong>in</strong>ary Medic<strong>in</strong>e<br />
nfowlkes@vetmed.lsu.edu<br />
Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.
History:<br />
- At a bearded dragon<br />
breed<strong>in</strong>g facility, 20 babies<br />
hatched normally.<br />
- At one month of age, one<br />
developed seizures and<br />
died. Six more died<br />
suddenly with no apparent<br />
cl<strong>in</strong>ical signs <strong>in</strong> one week.<br />
Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.
Necropsy:<br />
- Two juvenile<br />
bearded dragons<br />
were presented<br />
for necropsy.<br />
- No significant gross<br />
abnormalities were observed.<br />
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Liver. 200x<br />
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Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.<br />
Liver. 600x
Liver. 600x<br />
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Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.<br />
Esophagus. 600x
Small <strong>in</strong>test<strong>in</strong>e 600x<br />
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Kidney. 600x
Histopathology:<br />
Morphologic Diagnosis:<br />
Liver: Hepatic necrosis, random, mild to<br />
moderate, subacute with <strong>in</strong>tranuclear,<br />
basophilic <strong>in</strong>clusion bodies and mild to<br />
moderate heterophilic <strong>in</strong>filtration.<br />
- I/n <strong>in</strong>clusions also found <strong>in</strong> the esophageal<br />
mucosal epithelium, renal tubular epithelium,<br />
and small <strong>in</strong>test<strong>in</strong>al enterocytes.<br />
Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.
Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.
Etiologic diagnosis:<br />
Adenoviral hepatic necrosis.<br />
Etiology:<br />
Agamid adenovirus<br />
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Discussion:<br />
Significance:<br />
- Agamid adenovirus-1 is an emerg<strong>in</strong>g<br />
disease of bearded dragons.<br />
Transmission:<br />
- Fecal-oral route or direct contact via<br />
oronasal secretions.<br />
- Vertical transmission not proven.<br />
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Cl<strong>in</strong>ical signs:<br />
- juveniles and immunosuppressed.<br />
- Outbreaks uncommon, but have been<br />
reported <strong>in</strong> the face of concurrent<br />
disease.<br />
- Cl<strong>in</strong>ical signs range from lethargy,<br />
weakness, anorexia, weight loss,<br />
diarrhea, head tilt, circl<strong>in</strong>g, or sudden<br />
death to no signs at all.<br />
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Diagnosis:<br />
- Histopathology<br />
- Def<strong>in</strong>itive diagnosis is via TEM or<br />
PCR<br />
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Acknowledgements:<br />
Mr. Rob Poston<br />
Dr. Nobuko Wakamatsu, DVM, PhD,<br />
DACVP<br />
Histology lab: Hal Holloway, Kendra<br />
Shultz, Maria Castillo<br />
And all of my resident mates!!<br />
Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.<br />
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References:<br />
Kim DY et. al (2002) An outbreak of adenoviral <strong>in</strong>fection <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>land bearded dragons (<strong>Pogona</strong> <strong>vitticeps</strong>) co<strong>in</strong>fected with<br />
dependovirus and coccidial protozoa (Isospora sp.), J Vet<br />
Diagn Invest, 14:332-334.<br />
Moorman S et al. (2009) Systemic adenovirus <strong>in</strong>fection <strong>in</strong><br />
bearded dragons (<strong>Pogona</strong> <strong>vitticeps</strong>): histological,<br />
ultrastructural, and molecular f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs, J Comp Path, Vol.<br />
141, 78-83.<br />
Park<strong>in</strong> DB et al. (2009) Genotype differentiation of Agamid<br />
Adenovirus 1 <strong>in</strong> bearded dragons (<strong>Pogona</strong> <strong>vitticeps</strong>) <strong>in</strong> the<br />
USA by hexon gene sequence, Infection, Genetics, and<br />
Evolution, 9:501-506.<br />
Permission granted only for view<strong>in</strong>g on SEVPAC website.<br />
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