Histologic and Molecular Correlation in Shelter Cats with Acute Upper Respiratory Infection

Burns, Rachel E.; Wagner, Denae; Leutenegger, Christian M.; Pesavento, Patricia A.

doi:10.1128/jcm.00187-11

Cited by 41 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…They may act as primary pathogens or exert their effects only in combination with other infectious co-factors (Randolph et al, 1993). Mycoplasma infection has been signifi-cantly associated with feline URI in animal shelters, but most affected cats also carried co-infections such as FHV (Bannasch and Foley, 2005;Veir et al, 2008;Hartmann et al, 2010;Holst et al, 2010;Burns et al, 2011;Litster et al, 2012). M. felis-infected shelter cats treated with a 14-day course of oral doxycycline had clinical improvement, although clearance of the organism was not demonstrated (Kompare et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infectious diseases in large-scale cat hoarding investigations

Polak

Levy

Crawford

et al. 2014

The Veterinary Journal

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Animal hoarders accumulate animals in over-crowded conditions without adequate nutrition, sanitation, and veterinary care. As a result, animals rescued from hoarding frequently have a variety of medical conditions including respiratory infections, gastrointestinal disease, parasitism, malnutrition, and other evidence of neglect. The purpose of this study was to characterize the infectious diseases carried by clinically affected cats and to determine the prevalence of retroviral infections among cats in large-scale cat hoarding investigations. Records were reviewed retrospectively from four large-scale seizures of cats from failed sanctuaries from November 2009 through March 2012. The number of cats seized in each case ranged from 387 to 697. Cats were screened for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) in all four cases and for dermatophytosis in one case. A subset of cats exhibiting signs of upper respiratory disease or diarrhea had been tested for infections by PCR and fecal flotation for treatment planning. Mycoplasma felis (78%), calicivirus (78%), and Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (55%) were the most common respiratory infections. Feline enteric coronavirus (88%), Giardia (56%), Clostridium perfringens (49%), and Tritrichomonas foetus (39%) were most common in cats with diarrhea. The seroprevalence of FeLV and FIV were 8% and 8%, respectively. In the one case in which cats with lesions suspicious for dermatophytosis were cultured for Microsporum canis, 69/76 lesional cats were culture-positive; of these, half were believed to be truly infected and half were believed to be fomite carriers. Cats from large-scale hoarding cases had high risk for enteric and respiratory infections, retroviruses, and dermatophytosis. Case responders should be prepared for mass treatment of infectious diseases and should implement protocols to prevent transmission of feline or zoonotic infections during the emergency response and when transferring the rescued cats to other shelters or to adopters.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infectious diseases in large-scale cat hoarding investigations

Polak

Levy

Crawford

et al. 2014

The Veterinary Journal

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“…Subsequent swabs were obtained on days four and ten for all study cats still at the shelter (which did not apparently adversely affect their mood (defined as persistent emotional state over 24 h). Saliva samples were analyzed by real-time PCR assays (PCR oligonucleotides and protocols, IDEXX, Westbrook, Maine, USA, Burns et al, 2011). Each test used a fluorescent probe that matched with a unique segment of the organism's DNA or cDNA to ensure high specificity and sensitivity for Bordetella bronchiseptica, Chlamydophila felis, feline calicivirus, feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), H1N1 influenza virus and Mycoplasma felis.…”

Section: Urd Level Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of gentle stroking and vocalization on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease in anxious shelter cats

Gourkow

Hamon

Phillips

2014

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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Emotional, behavioural, and health benefits of gentle stroking and vocalizations, otherwise known as gentling, have been documented for several species, but little is known about the effect of gentling on cats in stressful situations. In this study, 139 cats rated as anxious upon admission to an animal shelter were allocated to either a Gentled or Control group. Cats were gentled four times daily for 10 min over a period of 10 days, with the aid of a tool for cats that were too aggressive to handle. The cats' mood, or persistent emotional state, was rated daily for 10 d as Anxious, Frustrated or Content. Gentled cats were less likely to have negatively valenced moods (Anxious or Frustrated) than Control cats (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR]=0.61 CI 0.42-0.88, P=0.007). Total secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) was quantified from faeces by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Gentled cats had increased S-IgA (6.9 ± 0.7 logeμg/g) compared to Control cats (5.9 ± 0.5 logeμg/g) (P<0.0001). Within the Gentled group of cats, S-IgA values were higher for cats that responded positively to gentling (7.03 ± 0.6, logeμg/g), compared with those that responded negatively (6.14 ± 0.8, logeμg/g). Combined conjunctival and oropharyngeal swab specimens were tested by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (rPCR) for feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV), Mycoplasma felis, Chlamydophila felis, and Bordetella bronchiseptica. There was a significant increase in shedding over time in Control cats (23%, 35%, 52% on days 1, 4 and 10, respectively), but not in gentled cats (32%, 26%, 30% on days 1, 4 and 10, respectively) (P=0.001). Onset of upper respiratory disease was determined by veterinary staff based on clinical signs, in particular ocular and/or nasal discharge. Control cats were 2.4 (CI: 1.35-4.15) times more likely to develop upper respiratory disease over time than gentled cats (P<0.0001). It is concluded that gentling anxious cats in animal shelters can induce positive affect (contentment), increase production of S-IgA, and reduce the incidence of upper respiratory disease.

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“…In the United States, FHV-1 is the single most important pathogen contributing to feline upper respiratory infection (URI). 10,93 Active shedding of FHV-1 from latently infected cats can be induced by environmental stressors or experimentally by administration of corticosteroid. 28 Virtually all cats infected with FHV become lifelong carriers.…”

Section: Feline Herpesvirusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Common and Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Animal Shelter

Pesavento

Murphy

2013

Vet Pathol

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The beneficial role that animal shelters play is unquestionable. An estimated 3 to 4 million animals are cared for or placed in homes each year, and most shelters promote public health and support responsible pet ownership. It is, nonetheless, inevitable that shelters are prime examples of anthropogenic biological instability: even well-run shelters often house transient, displaced, and mixed populations of animals. Many of these animals have received minimal to no prior health care, and some have a history of scavenging or predation to survive. Overcrowding and poor shelter conditions further magnify these inherent risks to create individual, intraspecies, and interspecies stress and provide an environment conducive to exposure to numerous potentially collaborative pathogens. All of these factors can contribute to the evolution and emergence of new pathogens or to alterations in virulence of endemic pathogens. While it is not possible to effectively anticipate the timing or the pathogen type in emergence events, their sites of origin are less enigmatic, and pathologists and diagnosticians who work with sheltered animal populations have recognized several such events in the past decade. This article first considers the contribution of the shelter environment to canine and feline disease. This is followed by summaries of recent research on the pathogenesis of common shelter pathogens, as well as research that has led to the discovery of novel or emerging diseases and the methods that are used for their diagnosis and discovery. For the infectious agents that commonly affect sheltered dogs and cats, including canine distemper virus, canine influenza virus, Streptococcus spp, parvoviruses, feline herpesvirus, feline caliciviruses, and feline infectious peritonitis virus, we present familiar as well as newly recognized lesions associated with infection. Preliminary studies on recently discovered viruses like canine circovirus, canine bocavirus, and feline norovirus indicate that these pathogens can cause or contribute to canine and feline disease.

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Histologic and Molecular Correlation in Shelter Cats with Acute Upper Respiratory Infection

Cited by 41 publications

References 19 publications

Infectious diseases in large-scale cat hoarding investigations

Infectious diseases in large-scale cat hoarding investigations

Effect of gentle stroking and vocalization on behaviour, mucosal immunity and upper respiratory disease in anxious shelter cats

Common and Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Animal Shelter

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