Mite Transmission of a Hemorrhagic Septicemia in Snakes

Abstract

A highly fatal hemorrhagic septicemia was discovered in a collection of snakes being kept as hosts for a culture of snake mites, Ophionyssus serpentium. The etiological agent of the disease was a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium, Proteus hydrophilus, which has previously been reported by other authors as the causative agent in "Red Leg Disease" of frogs, "Ulcer Disease" of brook trout, and "Red Sore" of pike. The occurrence of this bacterial septicemia in mite-infested snakes and its absence in the mite-free reptiles in the same collection suggested that it might be transmitted by mites. Expts. showed that the snake mite, a common parasite of snakes in zoos throughout the world, is a vector.