What are the symptoms and treatment of herpes in turtles?

Turtle herpes is a highly contagious disease caused by infection with the herpes virus. So how is tortoise herpes diagnosed? How to treat turtle herpes?

Causes:

Turtle herpes is a highly contagious disease caused by infection with the herpes virus. Members of the herpesvirus family are representatives of infectious diseases that can affect many animals, from invertebrates to primates. These double-stranded DNA viruses are divided into three subfamilies, namely alhpa, beta, and gamma herpes viruses. The samples were herpes simplex virus (HSV1-alpha), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV-beta), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV-gamma).

Diagnosis of herpes disease:

The initial clinical manifestations of herpes infection in turtles are closed eyes and drowsiness, loss of appetite or no eating. In the middle stage, white snot-like mucus appears in the mouth and nose, and ulcers appear on the oral mucosa. At this time, if you use a cotton swab to scrape, you can scrape out the white mucosa of the ulcer, but it will soon be secreted again. In the middle and late stages, the sick turtle's eyes begin to secrete white mucus, which eventually covers the entire eye. Its physical condition rapidly deteriorates and it becomes emaciated. A few days later, the sick turtle dies of exhaustion. Turtles in the same pond will also quickly develop this condition. The disease is highly contagious, and as long as one turtle shows symptoms, almost all other turtles in the pond will be spared. When dissecting sick turtles, it was found that the turtle's internal organs were congested and the liver was damaged and dead. The gastrointestinal tract is filled with white flocculent substances. Because the most obvious symptom is oral ulcers, turtles with herpes are often misdiagnosed as "stomatitis" in the early stages of the disease, which delays treatment. Herpes disease is also particularly easy to infect newly hatched young, and once infected, the mortality rate is 100%. In the pathogenesis, water temperature is a key factor. In many cases, these symptoms appear after the turtle hatchlings have been through a period of low temperatures and are often thought to be a cold.

treat:

There is still no effective cure for turtle herpes disease. Even if treatment is carried out, the cure rate is only 50% at most. The cured turtle mainly relies on its own immunity to resist. Since it is a viral infection, antibiotics have little effect and can only suppress some complications. When a sick turtle is found, it should be isolated and treated immediately to avoid bacterial infection. During treatment, the sick turtle should be kept at a suitable temperature, preferably 28-30 degrees. Herpes can be treated with acyclovir. If the baby still has an appetite, you can continue feeding him. Improving your own immunity is the best way.