The biggest Burmese python ever caught in Florida — 5.18 metres long and weighing 74.4 kilograms — was found in Everglades National Park, the University of Florida announced.

Snake virus identified

A mysterious disease afflicting pythons and boas in captivity has been decoded by University of California, San Francisco researchers.

Scientists say the illness is a new set of viruses known as "arenaviruses," which were not previously known to infect reptiles, though they were known to infect rodents.

The virus appears to cause a condition called "inclusion body disease" in zoo animals and exotic pets. Clumps of proteins form inside the snake, leading to bacterial infections, neurological problems, withering and eventually, death.

Although the disease was well known, its cause was a mystery until now.

—Source: EurekAlert!

The snake was pregnant with 87 eggs, also said to be a record. Scientists said the python's stats show just how pervasive the invasive snakes, which are native to Southeast Asia, have become in South Florida.

"It means these snakes are surviving a long time in the wild," said Kenneth Krysko, a snake expert at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where the euthanized snake was brought. "'There's nothing stopping them and the native wildlife are in trouble."

The python had feathers in its stomach that scientists plan to use to identify the types of wildlife it was eating.

"A 17 ½-foot snake could eat anything it wants," Krysko said.

Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.

Can swallow deer, alligators

The snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it. They have been known to swallow animals as large as deer and alligators.

Authorities have taken repeated steps to try and reduce the python problem, banning their importation and allowing them to be hunted. But those efforts have done little to reduce the population.

A record of 87 eggs were found in the largest Burmese python from Florida to date.A record of 87 eggs were found in the largest Burmese python from Florida to date. (University of Florida/Kristen Grace/Associated Press)

In and around Everglades National Park alone, some 1,825 Burmese pythons were found between 2000 and 2011.

Rob Robins, a biologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said the snakes are very hard to catch, and that since they have established themselves in the Everglades, they will be virtually impossible to eradicate.

"I think you're going to see more and more big snakes like this caught," he said.