Molecular epidemiology and genome analysis of feline morbillivirus in household and shelter cats in Thailand

Abstract

Background: Feline morbillivirus (FeMV) has been discovered in domestic cats associated with tubulointerstitial nephritis, but FeMV is also detected in healthy cats. This research aimed to identify and characterize the FeMV strains detected in a Thai cat population. Results: Two-hundred and ninety-two samples (131 urine and 161 blood) derived from 261 cats (61 sheltered and 200 household cats) were included for investigating the FeMV prevalence using real-time reverse transcription PCR. The overall prevalence of FeMV detection was 11.9% (31/261) among both samples, which accounted for 14.5% (19/131) and 7.5% (12/161) of the urine and blood samples, respectively. Among the FeMV-PCR positive cats, the FeMV-detected prevalence was insignificantly associated with healthy cats (58.1%; 18/31) or urologic cats (41.9%; 13/31). Full-length genome analysis of these FeMV-Thai strains revealed that their genomes clustered together in the FeMV-1A clade with up to 98.5% nucleotide identity. Selective pressure analysis showed that overall FeMV-1 has undergone negative selection, while positive selection sites were more frequently observed in the phosphoprotein gene. Conclusions: The detected FeMV infections in the Thai cat population were not correlated with urologic disorders, although the virus was more detectable in urine samples. The genetic patterns among the FeMV-1 Thai strains were more consistent. A large-scale study of FeMV in Thai cat samples is needed for further elucidation.

Feline Morbillivirus in Southern Italy: Epidemiology, Clinico-Pathological Features and Phylogenetic Analysis in Cats

“…In 2009, feline morbillivirus (FeMV) was isolated for the first time from stray cats ( Felis silvestris catus ) in Hong Kong [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. After the first isolation, FeMV has been worldwide detected in other countries from Far East as Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, mainland China but also in Turkey, Italy, Germany, UK, USA, Chile and Brazil [ 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Molecular prevalence reported ranged between 2.7% and 50.8% in urine [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 18 , 20 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], between nihil and 10% in blood [ 3 , 8 , 26 ], between 2.7% and 80% in kidney tissues [ 2 , 6 , 8 , 16 , 20 , 26 ], while seroprevalence was between 18.9% and 66.7% [ 2 , 3 , 18 , 26 ].…”

Feline Morbillivirus Infection in Domestic Cats: What Have We Learned So Far?

“…The Japanese strains were genetically divergent, as they shared a nucleotide identity between 90.6% and 96.8% [ 11 ]. FeMVs genotype 1 were reported in cats from Malaysia [ 27 ] and Thailand [ 17 ], with strains from Malaysia showing a high nucleotide sequence identity (99%) with other Asian FeMVs (Thailand, Japan, and Hong Kong) [ 27 ]. Likewise, phylogenetic analysis of FeMV strains from Thailand revealed that they clustered with those reported in Hong Kong and Japan, sharing the highest nucleotide identity with FeMV strains SS3 and M252A (97.98–98.5% and 97.5–98.3%, respectively) [ 17 ].…”

“…However, a different localization as well as the absence of a significant association with the FeMV antigens was reported [ 13 ]. On the other hand, different studies failed to report a statistically significant association with kidney disease [ 10 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 28 ]. Several reasons can explain these controversial findings.…”

“…CKD affects approximately 30% of cats older than 10 years and represents the major clinical complication in this age group [ 8 , 9 ]. Following its discovery, FeMV was also described in other countries including Japan [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], USA [ 14 ], Turkey [ 15 ], Brazil [ 16 ], Thailand [ 17 ], Italy [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], United Kingdom [ 24 ], Germany [ 25 , 26 ], Malaysia [ 27 ], and Mainland China [ 28 ]. While several studies suggested an association between FeMV infection and kidney disease in infected cats [ 6 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 18 , 26 , 29 ], many others have investigated, but not demonstrated, the causative role of FeMV in the pathogenesis of feline CKD [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 28 ].…”

Identification of Novel Feline Paramyxoviruses in Guignas (Leopardus guigna) from Chile

“…In 2012, a new paramyxovirus was discovered in domestic cats from Hong Kong, and received the name feline morbillivirus (FeMV-1, formerly known as FmoPV) [14]. Initially, the virus was described to be associated with tubulointerstitial nephritis but subsequently, detection of the virus in Europe [14][15][16][17], Asia [18][19][20][21] and the Americas [22,23] showed that the situation is more complex, as some authors found a connection to urinary tract disease, while others did not. Furthermore, a second genotype of FeMV, now designated as FeMV-2, was detected in domestic cats from Germany.…”