Preliminary results of health monitoring on Mycoplasma spp., Mycoplasma agassizii, and Testudinid herpesvirus infections for the relocation of confiscated Testudo hermanni [Risultati preliminari del monitoraggio sanitario sulle infezioni da Mycoplasma spp., Mycoplasma agassizii e Testudinid Herpesvirus per il ricollocamento di Testudo hermanni confiscate.

The highnumber of confiscated individuals following illegal detention has created the need to evaluatethe possibility of their relocation into wildlife. To this aim, the health status of Testudokept inrecovery centers was checked in 2019 to identify any individuals suitable for relocation intowildlife, performing serological and molecular screenings for infections by Mycoplasmaspp.,Mycoplasma agassizii,and Testudinid herpesvirus. Approximately 40% of the individuals heldin captivity were excluded from the possibility of relocation into the wildlife following theresults of the analyses. The infectious state of these animals should be managed in captivity different groups of positive and negative animals should be created to allow the selection andmaintenance of the negative state for some specific infections in individuals considered suitablefor relocation.