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Inclusion body disease in snakes: a review and description of three cases in boa constrictors in Belgium

¹ Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
² Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Groeselenberg 99, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium
³ Department of Veterinary Pathology, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 1, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands

Inclusion body disease, a fatal disorder in Boidae, is reviewed, and three cases in boa constrictors, the first reported cases in Belgium, are described. The snakes showed nervous signs, and numerous eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions, which are considered to be characteristic of the disease, were found in the liver and pancreas. The disease is suspected to be caused by a retrovirus, but transmission electron microscopic examinations of several tissues from one of the snakes did not reveal particles with a typical retroviral morphology.