Bovenizer

Bovenizer is an adult male loggerhead patient that was found in the intake canal of FPL's St. Lucie site. Because the turtle was underweight and had a very soft plastron (could see the heart beating through it), the turtle was brought to the Sea Turtle Hospital at Loggerhead Marinelife Center for diagnosis and treatment. Initial blood work and radiographs revealed little, but ultrasound of the heart and major vessels suggested the presence of endarteritis, an inflammation of the major vessels, probably caused by parasites in the blood known as spirorchiids. Additional testing is being done to confirm the diagnosis, and treatment will be started soon. This is a condition that is generally diagnosed post-mortem (after death).

This turtle turned out to have blood flukes (parasites) that were causing problems in the aorta and other major blood vessels. As far as we know, this is the first time this condition (called endarteritis) has been diagnosed in a live turtle (usually found only during necropsies). The turtle was treated for the parasites and the lesions in the blood vessels have resolved.