Influenza A Virus Infection in Cats and Dogs: A Literature Review in the Light of the “One Health” Concept

Abstract

Influenza A viruses are amongst the most challenging viruses that threaten both human and animal health. Constantly evolving and crossing species barrier, the emergence of novel zoonotic pathogens is one of the greatest challenges to global health security. During the last decade, considerable attention has been paid to influenza virus infections in dogs, as two canine H3N8 and H3N2 subtypes caused several outbreaks through the United States and Southern Asia, becoming endemic. Cats, even though less documented in the literature, still appear to be susceptible to many avian influenza infections. While influenza epidemics pose a threat to canine and feline health, the risks to humans are largely unknown. Here, we review most recent knowledge of the epidemiology of influenza A viruses in dogs and cats, existing evidences for the abilities of these species to host, sustain intraspecific transmission, and generate novel flu A lineages through genomic reassortment. Such enhanced understanding suggests a need to reinforce surveillance of the role played by companion animals-human interface, in light of the "One Health" concept and the potential emergence of novel zoonotic viruses.

Hemagglutinin Stability and Its Impact on Influenza A Virus Infectivity, Pathogenicity, and Transmissibility in Avians, Mice, Swine, Seals, Ferrets, and Humans

“…H5, H7, H9, and H10 viruses have been isolated from ostriches [ 121 ], while H3N8 and H7N7 have infected horses [ 122 ]. Dogs have become infected with H5N1, H3N2, and H3N8 [ 123 ], while cats have been infected with H1N1, H3N2, and H5N1 [ 124 , 125 ].…”

Pathogenesis and Immune Response of Ebinur Lake Virus: A Newly Identified Orthobunyavirus That Exhibited Strong Virulence in Mice

“…Mosquitoes are known to act as reservoirs of extensive pathogens ( Xia et al, 2018 ; Nyaruaba et al, 2019 ), several mosquito-borne viruses (arboviruses) causing human diseases remain the global public health concerns ( Tandina et al, 2018 ). However, with the constant evolution and crossing species barrier, the emergence of novel zoonotic pathogens is one of the greatest challenges to global health security ( Borland et al, 2020 ). Cooperation among human, animal, and environmental sciences to combat emerging public health threats has become an important issue under the One Health Initiative ( Ryu et al, 2017 ).…”

A universal RT-qPCR assay for “One Health” detection of influenza A viruses

“…This small concern warrants the ongoing assessment of primers and probe sequences in silico in order to monitor for any sustained mutational trends in this region. Nevertheless, the assay’s high inclusivity for various species combined with high sensitivity predestines the SVIP-MPv2 as a universal IAV screening tool, not only for the One Health species, but also for minor or occasional mammalian hosts which merit investigation as a risk for zoonotic infection [ 65 , 66 ]. The careful design of the SVIP-MPv2 assay has taken into account the long term evolutionary trends which continue within conserved genes such as MP1, so reducing the need for future modifications or adjustments which were required for the assay of Spackman et al, [ 16 ] to provide detection of pandemic H1N1 viruses in swine [ 36 ] or H5 HPAI viruses in wild and domestic birds [ 23 , 67 , 68 ].…”