Aug. 14, 2012 A mysterious condition called Inclusion Body
Disease (IBD) strikes captive boa constrictors and pythons,
causing bizarre behavioral changes and eventually death.
Scientists investigating an outbreak of IBD among snakes at the
Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco report they may well have
found a virus that is responsible for this common but deadly
disease, a discovery that could eventually lead to prevention
and treatment options. The study appears in the August 14 issue
of mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society
for Microbiology. The authors report that the virus represents a
whole new class of arenaviruses scientists have never seen
before. Among captive boas, IBD is the most commonly diagnosed
disease that is thought to be caused by a virus. Snakes that
have contracted IBD may initially regurgitate food, but they
eventually show dramatic neurological problems, says Michael
Buchmeier, a professor of infectious diseases at the University
of California, Irvine. Neurological