Two of the 11 loggerheads brought to Moretti have died so far, he said. Researchers are treating about 25 of the sick turtles throughout the state, from Sarasota to Juno Beach to the Keys. However, most of the animals regurgitate the concoction within minutes of the feeding. The turtles in the hospital lie motionless beneath heat lamps or in their enclosures, their eyes open, making gasping noises symptomatic of the pneumonia-induced mucus blocking their airways. The animals can't close their eyes, causing sores to develop over them.
Caretakers attempt to soothe the ulcers by moistening the turtles' eyes with ointment.
Moretti, a former auto mechanic who opened the clinic 14 years ago, said he's never seen anything like it. The ill reptiles were all healthy, full-sized adult females before contracting the virus, and scientists believe the onset of the disease is sudden. The deadly disease actually helps keep the turtles alive for a time. The illness makes the turtles too weak to swim to the surface, but the pneumonia causes a foam to develop inside the turtles' lungs that keeps them buoyant, Moretti said. Research performed by scientists at the University of Florida indicates the turtles may have a strain of the herpes virus attacking their respiratory tracts and lungs.