I’m so so sorry for your loss. I’m not sure how much your vet knows about arenavirus/IBD. While rosies can technically get it, I if recall right the instance is very low (or not yet studied as intently) and I’m not sure if the rosy strains are always the same as the strains affecting the snakes in the boa genus. Blood is definitely more accurate than swabs for a live animal, but all samples should be sent out to a legitimate lab with arenavirus primers in order to run the appropriate PCR(s). Right now University of Florida is at the forefront of arenavirus research and that’s where my vet and I send all my samples.
The issue with diagnosing arenavirus without proper testing is that it doesn’t manifest the same way in every snake it occurs in. The early symptoms are highly varied and a snake may experience one or multiple as they begin to decline. Not only that, these symptoms will also present with a myriad of other disease processes so having them does not immediately equate to a snake having arena/IBD.
|-|Lethargy and listlessness
|-|Anorexia (refusal to feed)
|-|Anemia
|-|Stomatitis (mouth rot)
|-|Frequent regurgitation
|-|Rapid weight loss
|-|Respiratory infections, especially if they reoccur or do not respond to treatment
|-|Secondary bacterial infections, especially if they reoccur or do not respond to treatment
|-|Pneumonia
|-|Rapid shedding
|-|Inability of the snake to properly shed itself
|-|Sudden death
If the snake is actually arenavirus positive, and if the virus penetrates the blood-brain barrier (which exists to keep viruses and foreign bodies out of the brain), encephalitis (swelling of the brain) may develop. This can lead to the neurological symptoms most are familiar with, that immediately proceed death. They include:
- Corkscrewing
- Disorientation
- Tremors
- Seizures
- Stargazing
- Inability for the snake to right itself
- Weakness
- Paralysis in the rear third of the body
Unfortunately, the problem with diagnosing arena/IBD from neurological symptoms alone is that all of these neuro symptoms can arise from other issues not related to IBD. These include:
|-|Severe dehydration
|-|Overheating (or other temperature issues)
|-|Bacterial infection
|-|Parasitic infection
|-|Fungal infection
|-|Exposure to toxins
|-|Toxicosis (insecticide poisoning)
|-|Metabolic issues
|-|Traumatic Injury
|-|Genetic defects
|-|Encephalitis or other brain issues unrelated to arena
|-|Other viruses such as Ophidian Paramyxovirus, Sunshine virus, etc.
Thus, testing is important to help rule out arenavirus as the underlying cause.
For animals that die, there is a slightly different protocol. If found soon enough bodies should be stored in the refrigerator, which gives you roughly a 3 day window to do a necropsy. After that the decomposition is generally too far along for the vet to find anything useful. Now, here’s where a lot of folks get tripped up: a necropsy alone cannot diagnose arena/IBD. Necros are helpful for looking at overall structural abnormalities and for taking tissue samples. Once samples are taken, a histopathology needs to be done. This usually requires sending out samples taken during a necropsy to a experienced pathologist’s lab. From there, the pathologist can determine the kind of disease process, the extent of the disease process, they will be able to identify if there are any inclusions present in cells, and if those are the inclusions that are specific to arena/IBD. At the end, if you wish to absolutely confirm a pathologist’s finding of arena/IBD, you can have one of the necro samples sent to the University of Florida lab for PCR testing. Brain, liver, kidney, or any other affected tissue may be sent, and that’s usually discussed with your vet beforehand.
All that said, for your vet to be fixated on IBD without significant evidence is rather unreasonable… but having a tissue sample sent to UF for PCR testing in itself is not unreasonable.
