Feline morbillivirus‐1 in dogs with respiratory diseases

Abstract

Feline morbillivirus‐1 (FeMV‐1) is a viral pathogen associated with kidney disease in domestic cats and wild felids. We initially identified the FeMV‐1 from the lung of a necropsied dog with severe pulmonary disease by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Thereafter, we investigated FeMV‐1 in nasal and oral swab samples from 73 healthy and 113 dogs with respiratory illnesses. We found polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐positive FeMV‐1 from only 14/113 (12.39%) dogs with respiratory disease (p = .001). Of these 14 dogs, six were co‐infected with other canine respiratory viruses (6/14; 42.86%). Two independent immunohistochemistry procedures, using antibodies against matrix and phosphoprotein of FeMV‐1, confirmed the presence of FeMV‐1 in lung tissues of two necropsied dogs (out of a total of 22 dogs, 9.09%) that died from respiratory disease. This finding corresponded to transmission electron microscopy findings that paramyxoviral particles exist in lung epithelia. FeMV‐1 antigen localization was also evident in the kidney, lymphoid and brain tissues of two deceased dogs. FeMV‐1 was successfully isolated from a necropsied dog and from two living dogs, all with respiratory illnesses, which supports FeMV infection in dogs. The detection of FeMV‐1 in dog tissues expands the known tropism of this virus to a non‐felid host. Our findings indicate that FeMV‐1, alone or in co‐infection with other viral pathogens, might contribute to respiratory illness and death in dogs.

Renal epitheliotropism of feline morbillivirus in two cats

“…4,22 The identified FeMV-1A genotype also had in vivo tropism for various epithelial cells in the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, kidneys, and urinary bladder, suggesting the epitheliotropism of FeMV. 12 FeMV immunoreactivity was also evident in the cytoplasm of lymphoid cells in the spleen and lymph nodes, supporting the lymphotropic nature of FeMV that was recently described. 10 Moreover, viral antigen was also detected in astroglia and oligodendroglia cells in the brain, supporting FeMV neurotropism as for other morbillivirus infection.…”

“…To confirm the concordant results of viral-like particles by TEM and FeMV nucleic acid detected by RT-qPCR, the kidney sections of both cats were subjected to immunohistochemistry (IHC) to determine the presence of FeMV antigen using Pab-His-rFeMV-M. 10,12 Prominent FeMV immunoreactivity was localized in renal tubular epithelial cells, where the eosinophilic, intracytoplasmic, hyalinized globular materials were found (Fig. 4, inset).…”

Feline Morbillivirus: Clinical Relevance of a Widespread Endemic Viral Infection of Cats

“…Nasal and oral swabs from dogs with respiratory disease in Thailand were tested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive for FeMV RNA, and FeMV-GT1 was subsequently isolated from swabs and lung samples of a dead dog [38]. The FeMV-GT1 sequences obtained in this study showed 97.5-99.2% identity with sequences derived from domestic cats in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Japan.…”

Agreement between In-Clinics and Virus Neutralization Tests in Detecting Antibodies against Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)

“…Another interesting point concerns the possible cross-reaction of other Morbilliviruses . Even though CDV is the only canine-specific Morbillivirus , recently, a new Morbillivirus that usually infect cats (namely feline morbillivirus-1, FeMV-1) was rarely isolated from dogs that present with respiratory diseases [ 23 ]. This virus has been isolated also in cats in Northern Italy [ 24 ].…”