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What do we know about sea turtle fibropapillomatosis studies in the American continent? A bibliographic review.

Buenrostro Silva, A. and Garcia Grajales, J. and Sanchez Nava, P. and Lourdes Ruiz Gomez, M. de

Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research (2022) 50: 343–353

DOI: 10.3856/vol50-issue3-fulltext-2787

Abstract

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating neoplastic infectious disease that affects sea turtles globally. Researchers on the American continent have generated valuable information about FP that can serve as the current source of biological knowledge on the disease, but this information is scattered throughout many scientific journals, books, thesis, and conference proceedings. Through a systematic literature review, the present study intends to summarize the current state of knowledge available on the American continent and highlight the knowledge gaps regarding FP in sea turtles. We reviewed 192 studies published from 1938 to 2021 performed on the American continent. The maximum annual number of publications occurred in 2019 with 15 publications, and there is an increasing trend in studies published over the past 25 years. One hundred thirty studies were performed in North America, 43 in South America, 14 in the Caribbean region, and 5 in Central America. The USA, Brazil, and Mexico were the most productive countries for FP research. The main topics addressed were pathological findings, records/incidences of FP, and molecular characterization. The most studied species with FP is the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Our results show a lack of geographical information about FP, particularly in the Central American region and the Pacific coast of South America. While there has been a significant increase in FP knowledge in the last two decades, most of the studies focused on pathological findings, while viral replication and transmission of this disease remains unknown, highlighting the need for studies that describe immune characteristics, stressful environmental conditions, or disorders in blood chemical values in organisms affected by FP.

Citation

Buenrostro Silva, A., Garcia Grajales, J., Sanchez Nava, P., & Lourdes Ruiz Gomez, M. de. (2022). What do we know about sea turtle fibropapillomatosis studies in the American continent? A bibliographic review. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 50(3), 343–353. https://doi.org/10.3856/vol50-issue3-fulltext-2787 reviews, systematic reviews, disease prevalence, epidemiology, literature reviews, blood chemistry, wild animals, disease transmission, risk factors, viral diseases, clinical aspects, diagnosis, physiopathology, disease distribution, neoplasms, skin cancer, skin diseases, animal pathology, fibropapillomatosis of sea turtles, papilloma, viral replication

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