“For veterinary researcher Annie Page-Karjian, veterinary science and wildlife biology need to come together more often. Juno Beach, a six-mile stretch of coastline in Central Florida that is critical to nesting sea turtles, was just the place to make that happen.”

A recent news article published by The Wildlife Society discusses a collaborative project that conducted comprehensive health assessments on green sea turtles in southeastern Florida.

The aims of the study were to :

• establish baseline health indices

• identify individuals with evidence of infection by chelonid alphaherpes viruses 5 and 6 (ChHV5, ChHV6) which are implicated in fibropapillomatosis and respiratory and skin disease

• compare measured health indices between turtles that did versus those that did not test positive for ChHV5 and/or ChHV6.