Characterisation of canine parvovirus strains isolated from cats with feline panleukopenia

Abstract

Unlike the original canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2), CPV-2 variants have gained the ability to replicate in vivo in cats but there is limited information on the disease patterns induced by these variants in the feline host. During 2008, two distinct cases of parvoviral infection were diagnosed in our laboratories. A CPV-2a variant was identified in a 3-month-old Persian kitten displaying clinical sign of feline panleukopenia (FPL) (acute gastroenteritis and marked leukopenia) and oral ulcerations, that died eight days after the onset of the disease. Two pups living in the same pet shop as the cat were found to shed a CPV-2a strain genetically identical to the feline virus and were likely the source of infection. Also, non-fatal infection by a CPV-2c strain occurred in a 2.5-month-old European shorthair kitten displaying non-haemorrhagic diarrhoea and normal white blood cell counts. By sequence analysis of the major capsid protein (VP2) gene, the feline CPV-2c strain showed 100% identity to a recent canine type-2c isolate. Both kittens had been administered multivalent vaccines against common feline pathogens including FPL virus. Whether and to which extent the FPL vaccines can protect cats adequately from the antigenic variants of CPV-2 should be assessed.

Identification of parvovirus in the bone marrow of eight cats

“…It was assumed they were not owned and therefore not vaccinated, because of their presence at an animal shelter and non‐neutered status. Non‐vaccinated animals were preferred because it has been previously demonstrated that previous vaccination with FPV may cross‐protect for CPV as well, 13,35 although the degree of protection this confers is uncertain 5,18,25,34 . Because the samples were obtained postmortem samples, the history and clinical health of the animals were unknown and therefore the assumption that they were all healthy, without neurological or gastrointestinal signs, may have been erroneous.…”

Canine parvovirus 2c infection in a cat with severe clinical disease

“…8 In the current study, the cat presented severe clinical signs and survived after 3 days of treatment. In contrast, another study 9 also detected the CPV 426 Glu variant in a kitten but without hemorrhagic diarrhea; instead, that kitten had normal white blood cell counts and had been administered multivalent vaccines against FPV and other pathogens. The CPV-2a variant with the 426 Glu variation has already been reported in cats, in Italy.…”

Characterization of the partial VP2 gene region of canine parvoviruses in domestic cats from Turkey

“…Although CPV-2 and its variants replicate both canine and feline cells in vitro, FPLV infects to feline cells in vitro but does not replicate in canine cells [22]. Subtypes of CPV-2 have been reported from Asian and European countries in the cat population [6,14,23].…”