Diagnosis Of Infectious Diseases In Reptiles

Introduction
Reptiles, like many wild animals, mask their illnesses well, which can make it difficult to assess their health. Laboratory testing therefore plays an especially important role in these animals. Diagnosing infectious agents in reptiles is also challenging, due to the rapid changes and growing availability of testing in recent years. In many cases, little information is available on which tests on what samples are ideal in specific instances. Knowing what samples are best to test, and what tests may be helpful in specific situations, from acutely diseased animals to quarantine situations is important for patient care as well as for optimizing costs and planning treatments.
Tests available for diagnosing infectious agents can be divided into two general categories – methods for direct detection of the infectious agent, and tests for the detection of an immune response to the infection.
The second category is generally limited to antibody detection in reptiles. ...