Molecular Identification of Mycoplasma agassizii in Confiscated Tortoises in Madagascar.

Mycoplasmosis is of concern for chelonian conservation. We detected a Mycoplasma sp. in confiscated radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) and spider tortoises (Pyxis arachnoides).

Haematology and plasma biochemistry reference intervals of Española, San Cristobal and Eastern Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoise species.

Normal reference intervals (RI) of hematologic and biochemical parameters are important for assessing and monitoring the health status of captive and free-living chelonians; however, such information is not available for most wildlife species. Giant Galapagos tortoises are one of the most iconic animals on earth and health information can make an important contribution to their conservation and management. This study provides formal RI of haematology and plasma biochemistry parameters and describes cell morphology along with morphometrics of free-living Eastern Santa Cruz (), Española () and San Cristóbal tortoises ().

The fungus Aphanoascella galapagosensis affects bacterial diversity of Galapagos giant tortoise carapaces.

Aims: This study aimed to describe the bacterial microbiome associated with the carapace of three species of Galapagos giant tortoises (Chelonoidis porteri, Chelonoidis donfaustoi, and Chelonoidis vandenburghi) and determine the potential effect of the whitish lesions caused by the fungus Aphanoascella galapagosensis.

Methods And Results: We used Oxford Nanopore's MinION to evaluate the external bacterial microbiome associated with the carapaces from the aforementioned species. Taxonomic assignment was carried out by Bugseq and the bacterial communities were compared between carapaces with and without lesions using a NMDS with Bray-Curtis as the dissimilarity index.

Spatial examination of social and environmental drivers of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) across Kenya.

Climate and agricultural land-use change has increased the likelihood of infectious disease emergence and transmissions, but these drivers are often examined separately as combined effects are ignored. Further, seldom are the influence of climate and agricultural land use on emerging infectious diseases examined in a spatially explicit way at regional scales. Our objective in this study was to spatially examine the climate, agriculture, and socio-demographic factors related to agro-pastoralism, and especially the combined effects of these variables that can influence the prevalence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels across northern Kenya.