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1 April 2015 A Mycoplasma Species of Emydidae Turtles in the Northeastern USA
Robert J. Ossiboff, Bonnie L. Raphael, Alyssa D. Ammazzalorso, Tracie A. Seimon, Holly Niederriter, Brian Zarate, Alisa L. Newton, Denise McAloose
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Abstract

Mycoplasma infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality in captive and wild chelonians. As part of a health assessment of endangered bog turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii) in the northeastern US, choanal and cloacal swabs from these and other sympatric species, including spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata), eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina), wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta), and common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) from 10 sampling sites in the states (US) of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, were tested by PCR for Mycoplasma. Of 108 turtles tested, 63 (58.3%) were PCR positive for Mycoplasma including 58 of 83 bog turtles (70%), three of three (100%) eastern box turtles, and two of 11 (18%) spotted turtles; all snapping turtles (n = 7) and wood turtles (n = 4) were negative. Sequence analysis of portions of the 16S–23S intergenic spacer region and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene revealed a single, unclassified species of Mycoplasma that has been previously reported in eastern box turtles, ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata), western pond turtles (Emys marmorata), and red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans). We document a high incidence of Mycoplasma, in the absence of clinical disease, in wild emydid turtles. These findings, along with wide distribution of the identified Mycoplasma sp. across a broad geographic region, suggest this bacterium is likely a commensal inhabitant of bog turtles, and possibly other species of emydid turtles, in the northeastern US.

Wildlife Disease Association 2015
Robert J. Ossiboff, Bonnie L. Raphael, Alyssa D. Ammazzalorso, Tracie A. Seimon, Holly Niederriter, Brian Zarate, Alisa L. Newton, and Denise McAloose "A Mycoplasma Species of Emydidae Turtles in the Northeastern USA," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 51(2), 466-470, (1 April 2015). https://doi.org/10.7589/2014-04-086
Received: 2 April 2014; Accepted: 1 August 2014; Published: 1 April 2015
KEYWORDS
bog turtle
Clemmys guttata
Eastern box turtle
Emydidae
Glyptemys muhlenbergii
Mycoplasma
spotted turtle
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