Backgrounds Many wild-caught reptiles harbor some kind of parasites. Captivity with negative effect of poor sanitary and husbandry management may lead to clinical disease. The increasing trend in keeping non-native reptile species in the last decade emerged a need for the specification of reptile parasites and their hosts. Objectives The study aims to gain data on intestinal parasites of repti...

Previous investigations have assumed that embryos lack the capacity of physiological thermoregulation until they are large enough for their own metabolic heat production to influence nest temperatures. Contrary to intuition, reptile embryos may be capable of physiological thermoregulation. In our experiments, egg-sized objects (dead or infertile eggs, water-filled balloons, glass jars) cooled d...

A large number of viruses have been described in many different reptiles. These viruses include arboviruses that primarily infect mammals or birds as well as viruses that are specific for reptiles. Interest in arboviruses infecting reptiles has mainly focused on the role reptiles may play in the epidemiology of these viruses, especially over winter. Interest in reptile specific viruses has conc...

BACKGROUND An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy...

INTRODUCTION In 2008 a marked increase in Salmonella enterica serovar Tennessee infections in infants occurred in Germany. In March and April 2008, eight cases were notified compared to a median of 0-1 cases in 2001-2006. MATERIALS AND METHODS We carried out an investigation including a case-control study to identify the source of infection. A patient was a child < 3 years of age with Salmone...

Earth’s tropical ecosystems have witnessed several extinctions and a dramatic reduction of the range and abundance of large reptile species, which is directly related to the rise of early and modern humans. The occurrence of such extinctions, range reduction, species loss, and the consequences for several paramount ecosystem processes are poorly documented compared to other large vertebrate spe...

Reptiles and mammals diverged over 300 million years ago, creating two parallel evolutionary lineages amongst terrestrial vertebrates. In reptiles, two main evolutionary lines emerged, one gave rise to Squamata, while the other gave rise to Testudines, Crocodylia and birds. In this study, we determined the genomic variable (V)-gene repertoire in reptiles corresponding to the three main immunogl...

Campylobacter fetus currently comprises three recognized subspecies, which display distinct host association. Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus and C fetus subsp. venerealis are both associated with endothermic mammals, primarily ruminants, whereas C fetus subsp. testudinum is primarily associated with ectothermic reptiles. Both C. fetus subsp. testudinum and C. fetus subsp. fetus have been asso...

This study examines the Salmonella status in reptiles kept in households with children suffering from gastroenteritis due to an exotic Salmonella serovar, to obtain information on possible transmission paths. A number of affected households (n=79) were contacted, and almost half (34/79) comprised at least one reptile in the home. Of the households, 19 were further studied, whereby a total of 36...