Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Jane. Very interesting you mentioned herpes virus. Is it common in iguanids? The reason I asked is that I got a letter from the Desert Museum warning me that they found herpes in one of their Sauromalus varius that died. It was one that was returned from another institution and later died at the museum. They acted as if this is very uncommon and could have maybe been picked up from another animal at the zoo it was returned from. They thought maybe an African herp as I think they said the virus is one that originated in Africa. Any info on this would be cool if you have any. Tom

Tom, I had a very large captive born female green about 13yrs old die due to herpes. She had a clutch of 68 eggs and never recovered from it. She was being treated by Dr Frye, he showed me the slide and could see the virus. I remember him telling me that herpes was not uncommon and the animals immune system can keep it at bay. My ig was too spent from laying and the virus took over. Thats what I remember.... if it helps

All the info helps. Do you know how they catch this? I was nder the impression that it can be passed to humans like salmonella. Do you know anything about this? Anybody? It is a very interesting topic to me. Thanks Joel. Tom

I dont remember even discussing how she, my iguana, got it but I do remeber Frye calling it Reptillian herpes and that it was different from the one humans get. My ig never got lesions of any kind. she just dropped even more weight and stopped eating.

From Dr Frye-

No, Iguana Herpesvirus is not transmissible to humans. How do they
contract it? Not
certain, but it is most likely passed from iguana to iguana via direct or
indirect contact
with secretions of an infected lizard. There is no evidence that it is
transmitted via
sexual contact; however, if reproductive secretions were carrying the
virus, then it
probably could be spread via that route. I suppose that it could be
transmitted vertically
through infected eggs but, if so, I suspect that it would kill most of the
infected embryos
before they developed fully. We now know that there are many
reptile-associated Herpes
viruses; some of which have been shown to be able to induce malignant
tumors.

It is much appreciated. It is interesting stuff. Tom

Tom, I really don't have an info on herpes in reptiles but I'll ask our vet if she has any literature. I've only heard of it in a couple of cases, one involving a Green Iguana and the other was Russian Torts. We were speculating that these Ctenos could have it because the pattern of the lesions seemed to follow nerve pathways, kinda like shingles in people.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=DVXB,DVXB:2004-48,DVXB:en&q=herpes iguana&spell=1
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Des
http://www.beachy-iguana.com
http://www.herpvetconnection.com (find/recommend a vet!)