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Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 41(4), 2005, pp. 839-842
© Wildlife Disease Association  2005
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SHORT COMMUNICATION

Mycoplasmosis in Free-ranging Desert Tortoises in Utah and Arizona

Vanessa M. Dickinson1,6,7, Isabella M. Schumacher2, James L. Jarchow3, Timothy Duck4 and Cecil R. Schwalbe5

1 Research Branch, Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 W. Greenway Rd., Phoenix, Arizona, USA 85086;
2 8525 Richland Colony Rd., Knoxville, Tennessee 37923, USA;
3 Sonora Animal Hospital, 410 W. Simmons, Tucson, Arizona 85705, USA;
4 Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Strip District, 225 N. Bluff, St. George, Utah 84770, USA;
5 National Biological Service, BioSciences East, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
7 Corresponding author (email: mcaracara{at}yahoo.com)

ABSTRACT:   Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) has been associated with major losses of free-ranging desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in the southwestern United States. This prompted a clinical examination of 63 free-ranging desert tortoises for signs of URTD and sampling for Mycoplasma agassizii, the causative agent of URTD. Tortoises were sampled from three sites in the eastern Mojave Desert (1992–93), and from three sites in the Sonoran Desert (1992–94). Plasma samples were tested for antibodies to M. agassizii using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Nasal aspirate samples from 12 Sonoran tortoises were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test directed at the 16S rRNA gene of M. agassizii. Nasal aspirate samples from all tortoises were cultured for M. agassizii. In the Mojave Desert, nine tortoises had clinical signs of URTD and eight were seropositive for M. agassizii. In the Sonoran Desert, there were no clinical signs of URTD, but two tortoises were seropositive, and two tortoises had positive PCR results.
  Key words:  Arizona, desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, Mojave Desert, Mycoplasma agassizii, Sonoran Desert, upper respiratory tract disease, Utah.

6 Current address: 515 E. Lavitt Lane, Phoenix, Arizona 85086, USA






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