SURVEILLANCE FOR UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT DISEASE AND MYCOPLASMA IN FREE-RANGING GOPHER TORTOISES (GOPHERUS POLYPHEMUS) IN GEORGIA, USA

Abstract Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) in the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is highly contagious and has been implicated in the reduction of populations throughout the range. With the exception of a few limited studies, the prevalence of URTD in Georgia, USA tortoise populations is poorly known. We found that exposure to Mycoplasma agassizii and Mycoplasma testudineum, associated with URTD, varied geographically among 11 Georgia tortoise populations. The prevalence of antibodies to M. agassizii in individual populations was either very low (0–3%, n = 7 populations) or very high (96–100%, n = 4 populations), whereas there was variation in the prevalence of antibodies to M. testudineum among populations (20–61%, n = 10) with only one site being negative. Five sites had tortoises with antibodies to both pathogens, and these were the only sites where we observed tortoises with clinical signs consistent with URTD. We did not find tortoises with clinical signs of URTD at sites with tortoises wi...