LARGE-SCALE DISEASE-ASSOCIATED MORTALITY EVENT OF EASTERN BOX TURTLES (TERRAPENE CAROLINA CAROLINA) CONFISCATED DUE TO THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE

Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) are declining range-wide due to anthropogenic factors, including the illegal wildlife trade. Infectious diseases that cause high morbidity and mortality, such as frog virus 3 (family Iridoviridae, genus Ranavirus, species Rana1), may also threaten this species in managed-care and free-ranging settings. High rates of infectious disease transmission are documented within the illegal wildlife trade; however, the impact of diseases on health, survival, and ultimate disposition of confiscated turtles is not thoroughly described. In July 2021, 96 eastern box turtles were seized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service while illegally en route to Asia and were relocated to three zoos via the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Saving Animals from Extinction American Turtles program. From July–August, 35 individuals were selected for pathogen surveillance, of which (94%) were qPCR positive for frog virus 3 (FV3; recently renamed Ranavirus rana1), 100% were positive for Mycoplasmopsis sp. (BTMyco), 80% were positive for Terrapene herpesvirus 1 (TerHV1), and 60% were positive for Terrapene adenovirus (TerAdv). At least two pathogens were co-detected in each turtle. Forty of the original 96 turtles died (31 of the 35 tested turtles), and in September 2021, the surviving 56 (4 from the subset of 35) turtles were transferred to the University of Illinois. These remaining turtles tested qPCR positive for FV3 (32%), BTMyco (64%), TerAdv (64%), TerHV1 (66%), Terrapene herpesvirus 2 (18%), and human-pathogenic Leptospira spp. (2%). Multiple pathogens were co-detected in 41 turtles (73%). All 56 turtles brumated over winter in 2021 and were found dead in May 2022, with autolysis limiting diagnostic necropsy. The complete mortality of 96 confiscated eastern box turtles demonstrates that poor health and disease transmission negatively impact the welfare and survival of illegally traded animals.