The Turtle Hospital

(Hidden Harbor Marine Environmental Project, Inc.)
Marathon, Florida

FIBROPAPILLOMA

One of the main focuses of The Turtle Hospital is ongoing research on a disease called fibropapilloma. Fibropapilloma is afflicting sea turtles worldwide, it is the only known global disease of an animal. Research that has been conducted in the last 15 years between The Turtle Hospital and the University of Florida points to a herpes virus, the research is still continuing today. Fibropapilloma looks like large warts with a "cauliflower" texture that grow on all the soft tissue areas of a sea turtle, including the eyes and mouth, it can also grow through the carapace and plastron. Unfortunately in some cases the growths or tumors, as they are also called, can grow internally on the lungs, kidneys, liver and intestines. The coloration can be pink, white or black and can range in size from less than a centimeter to as large as a football, the largest tumor recorded at The Turtle Hospital weighed over 3 pounds.

The disease has been documented as far back as the 1900's and has reappeared and regressed throughout the century. The growths appear on sea turtles in warm water areas, especially around the equator, from Florida and South America to Hawaii with a few cases reported from Australia. Primarily found on Green sea turtles the disease since the 1980's has now been found on all species of sea turtles. In Florida the majority of sea turtles effected has been juvenile Green sea turtles although adult Greens, Loggerheads and Hawksbills have been found with fibropapilloma.

Half of the sea turtles at The Turtle Hospital come in with Fibropapilloma, the hospital is one of only two facilities in Florida which accepts turtles with this disease. Because the disease is known to be infectious between sea turtles, although the research so far has been unable to prove if it can be transmitted through sea water, most facilities are unable to take in the fibropapilloma turtles due to the risk of infecting the non-fibropapilloma turtles already at the facility. Many of the turtles come from the east coast of Florida as far away as Melbourne Beach, Florida.

When a turtle with fibropapilloma comes into The Turtle Hospital it undergoes a certain protocol. Initially as with every turtle that comes into the hospital a stranding report is made, photos are taken, the turtle is then cleaned, weighed, radiographed and blood is taken. The radiographs are extremely important because they can sometimes show if a turtle has internal fibropapillomas. Many times the internal growths or tumors are too small to show on a radiograph so each turtle is given a mild sedative and endoscoped to double check for internal tumors. If the turtle has internal tumors it must be euthanized because so far there is no cure for the internal tumors and it will kill the turtle.

If the turtle's endoscopy does not show internal tumors the turtle can then be scheduled for surgery. In many cases the turtle is too weak and anemic to undergo an anesthetic surgery so it will be scheduled for surgery after the blood work shows the turtle is strong enough. Before the surgery the turtle is anesthetized so it will not feel anything during surgery. The turtle then must be "bagged" every thirty seconds throughout the surgery because once it is anesthetized the turtle stops breathing on its own. The surgery is performed with a CO2 laser which cuts the skin without touching the turtle and cauterizes as it goes so there is very little bleeding. Turtles recover and heal very quickly from laser surgery, in most cases there is no scarring at all. After the surgery the turtle is then kept in the hospital overnight to ensure it has completely recovered from the anesthetic before being put back in its tank.

Throughout the years The Turtle Hospital has found that the only way to keep the growths or tumors from growing is to surgically remove them, then if the turtle can remain tumor free for one year it can be released back to the wild. The turtles are checked throughout their one year stay and if they show any regrowth the tumor is taken off and their year starts all over again.

There is no cure so far for this debilitating, life threatening disease, research is still ongoing to try and understand how the disease starts and spreads. The Turtle Hospital has been very successful in treating sea turtles that come in with fibropapilloma and will continue to actively pursue research to find answers and a cure for fibropapilloma.

For more information on fibropapilloma you can go to www.turtles.org/sickbay.htm#resources