Feline chaphamaparvovirus in cats with enteritis and upper respiratory tract disease

Abstract

Feline chaphamaparvovirus (FeChPV) is a novel parvovirus, first discovered in a multi‐facility feline shelter in Canada in 2019, during an outbreak of acute gastro‐enteritis (AGE) in cats, and detected at high prevalence (47.0%) in faecal samples. Whether this finding was anecdotal or similar viruses are common components of feline virome is still unclear. Also, the potential impact of this virus on feline health is uncertain. Herewith, a case–control study was performed to investigate whether this novel parvovirus may play a role as enteric pathogen, screening samples collected from cats with and without AGE signs. Furthermore, we extended the research by testing archival paired oropharyngeal and ocular samples collected from cats with or without upper respiratory tract disease (URTD). FeChPV DNA was detected at high prevalence rate (36.8%, 14/38) in clinical cases, representing the most frequently identified enteric virus, followed by feline panleukopenia parvovirus (23.7%, 9/38), feline coronavirus (5.3%, 2/38), feline kobuvirus (5.3%, 2/38) and noroviruses (5.3%, 2/38). The different prevalence rates of FeChPV between the case and control group were statistically significant, suggesting a possible association of the virus with acute gastro‐enteric disease. The virus was also detected at low rate in the respiratory samples of cats with (3.3%, 6/183) or without URTD (4.3%, 6/140), although there was no significant association between FeChPV and URTD. The complete VP encoding gene was determined for five viruses and the nearly full‐length genome was reconstructed for three viruses, namely 313R/2019/ITA, 284R/2019/ITA and 49E/2019/ITA. In the NS1‐based tree, the Italian strains clustered tightly with the two FeChPV prototypes detected in Canada, within a monophyletic cluster related to but clearly distinct from canine chaphamaparvovirus, currently classified in the species Carnivore chaphamaparvovirus 1 (CaChPV‐1).

First detection of feline bocaparvovirus 2 and feline chaphamaparvovirus in healthy cats in Turkey

“…Our findings of the prevalence of FeChPV in the oropharyngeal swabs of healthy cats supported theirs, which was 1.42% (2/70) and 4.28% (6/140), respectively. The NP nt and aa sequence of the FechaV/Tur-2020/2 and FechaV/Tur-2020/68 isolates obtained from this study shared 92.38–97.14% and 98.08–99.03% identity, respectively, with FeChPVs (313R/2019/ITA, 49E/2019/ITA, and 284R/2019/ITA) identified in Italy by Di Profio et al ( 2021 ). The results were also similar for the VP gene sequence of the FechaV/Tur-2020/68 strain (> 98% nt and > 96% aa identities).…”

“…In the same study, FeChPV was investigated by PCR in oropharyngeal clinical samples of 183 cats with URTD (57%) and 140 healthy cats (43.3%) in 2014–2017, and FeChPV DNA was detected in 12 clinical samples, six of which belonged to healthy animals. It was reported that there was no statistically significant relationship between FeChPV and URTD (Di Profio et al 2021 ). Our findings of the prevalence of FeChPV in the oropharyngeal swabs of healthy cats supported theirs, which was 1.42% (2/70) and 4.28% (6/140), respectively.…”

“…Until now, the FeChPV has been reported from Canada (Li et al 2020 ) and Italy (Di Profio et al 2021 ) there is no previous report of this virus in Turkey.…”

“…Minor changes in these proteins can alter host range and pathogenicity (Hoelzer et al 2008 ; Parrish and Kawaoka 2005 ). Some parvoviruses, such as FeChPV (Di Profio et al 2021 ), FBoV (Lau et al 2012 ) and feline bufavirus (FBuV) (Diakoudi et al 2019 ), have recently attracted attention with their extraintestinal or possible systemic infections as well as enteric infections. Therefore, in this study, we preferred the oropharynx, which is an important sampling site for respiratory diseases.…”

Emerging Parvoviruses in Domestic Cats

“…In a recent case-control study carried out in Italy, FeChPV has been identified from fecal and respiratory samples of cats, displaying a correlation with acute gastroenteritis [110]. Since the Italian strains shared more than 97.7% aa identity in the NS1 protein with Canadian prototype viruses, they have been clustered into a monophyletic, welldistinguished species (Fechavirus) with respect to the FeChPV strains found in China and currently classified as the species Carnivore chaphamaparvovirus 1 [2,18,19,110].…”