COINFECTION OF A BEARDED DRAGON, POGONA-VITTICEPS, WITH ADENOVIRUS-LIKE AND DEPENDOVIRUS-LIKE VIRUSES

Four neonate bearded dragons, Pogona vitticeps, from two collections b ecame ill and died. Multiple tissues were collected and processed for light microscopy. In hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections of liver o f one lizard, numerous basophilic intranuclear inclusions were observe d. In three lizards, intranuclear inclusions were primarily seen withi n enterocytes in the small intestine. A portion of paraffin-embedded l iver of one lizard and small intestine of a second lizard were removed , deparaffinized, and examined by electron microscopy. For the most pa rt, inclusions in the liver consisted of nonenveloped viral particles 60-66 nm in diameter. Smaller nonenveloped virions 15-17 nm in diamete r were occasionally seen in association with these particles. In the i ntestine, inclusions consisted only of 60-70 nm particles. Based on mo rphology and location, the larger particles were consistent with an ad enovirus. Based on size and presence within nuclei of host cells coinf ected with the adenovirus-like virus, the smaller viral agent was cons istent with members of the genus Dependovirus.