I've been following some of the discussions about Intranuclear Cocciddiosis with great interest but there are some things that I am not clear on.
For example, I have heard of a collection of red-footed tortoises in north central Florida in which a single specimen that was lethargic and not feeding was tested for I.C. The test came back positive. However, none of the other symptoms associated with I.C. (such as excessive mucus, etc.) were present.
The collection of red-foots was a long term one with no new animals coming into it for a number of years yet the vet caring for this collection assumes that all of the animals were infected and thus should never be introduced to other animals.
My questions are these, if the collection has been closed for a number of years, shouldn't this disease have manifested itself a long time ago? Shouldn't a large number of individuals within this group become sick or died by now? Is it possible for all of the group to be infected and yet appear perfectly healthy and never get sick?
Also, is a false positive test result possible?
I'm not a vet by any means but something just doesn't make sense to me.
For example, I have heard of a collection of red-footed tortoises in north central Florida in which a single specimen that was lethargic and not feeding was tested for I.C. The test came back positive. However, none of the other symptoms associated with I.C. (such as excessive mucus, etc.) were present.
The collection of red-foots was a long term one with no new animals coming into it for a number of years yet the vet caring for this collection assumes that all of the animals were infected and thus should never be introduced to other animals.
My questions are these, if the collection has been closed for a number of years, shouldn't this disease have manifested itself a long time ago? Shouldn't a large number of individuals within this group become sick or died by now? Is it possible for all of the group to be infected and yet appear perfectly healthy and never get sick?
Also, is a false positive test result possible?
I'm not a vet by any means but something just doesn't make sense to me.