Chameleons Northwest
Avid Member
One reason why new or ill chameleons should be quarantined in separate rooms:
At our local State fair last September, a deadly virus was passed from lambs to cattle, in a show barn. The barns are immense, and the 2 groups were not near each other, so investigators are working to determine a cause for the rare outbreak. In one report, an inspector noted that the cows were penned under a ventilation exhaust duct, and suggests that the virus was lifted into the air from the sheep coat and dropped out of the air (onto the cows) as the air changed temperature as it approached the exhaust duct. The sheep were not ill, as the virus does not affect them. But it incubated in the cattle, which died sometime later. Quite a few prize winning cattle were killed. Of course, these were mammals, but the mechanics of the incident would still apply to any situation. You can read one of the reports here.
http://agr.wa.gov/News/2008/Cattle%2...20by MCF.htm
We run a fan in each of the rooms our chams are housed in. Ventilation fans, and also fans to created mild air current, and avoid humid stagnant air. But, a report such as this underscores the need to quarantine new or ill animals in separate rooms. A practice I had always read about but never really appreciated until reading this local report.
I realize the report is not about chameleons, but placed this in the health forum for the sake of those who have multiple chameleons, and for those who may have ill animals, or who may be adding new ones to their collection.
At our local State fair last September, a deadly virus was passed from lambs to cattle, in a show barn. The barns are immense, and the 2 groups were not near each other, so investigators are working to determine a cause for the rare outbreak. In one report, an inspector noted that the cows were penned under a ventilation exhaust duct, and suggests that the virus was lifted into the air from the sheep coat and dropped out of the air (onto the cows) as the air changed temperature as it approached the exhaust duct. The sheep were not ill, as the virus does not affect them. But it incubated in the cattle, which died sometime later. Quite a few prize winning cattle were killed. Of course, these were mammals, but the mechanics of the incident would still apply to any situation. You can read one of the reports here.
http://agr.wa.gov/News/2008/Cattle%2...20by MCF.htm
We run a fan in each of the rooms our chams are housed in. Ventilation fans, and also fans to created mild air current, and avoid humid stagnant air. But, a report such as this underscores the need to quarantine new or ill animals in separate rooms. A practice I had always read about but never really appreciated until reading this local report.
I realize the report is not about chameleons, but placed this in the health forum for the sake of those who have multiple chameleons, and for those who may have ill animals, or who may be adding new ones to their collection.
