Feline Viral Infections Flashcards
Summarise the viruses that affect felines
Respiratory viruses- FCV and FeHV-1
Retroviruses- FeLV, FIV
Coronaviruses- FECov, FIPV
Parvovirus- panleucopaenia/ feline infectious enteritis
Cowpox, influenza and rabies
Why can feline panleucopenia survive for a long time in the environment/ difficult to kill with disinfectants?
Non envelope
Very small
Stable DNA
Why is feline panleucopenia relatively rare?
Successful vaccination
Why does feline panleucopenia target rapidly dividing cells?
So small it has removed its own polymerase from its genome to become smaller= no enzyme to copy its genome
Can only replicate using DNSA polymerase of the cat
Preferentially infects cells replicating lots
Name some places feline panleucopenia commonly infects and what it causes
Villus crypt epithelium (causing enteritis)
Bone marrow and lymphoid tissue
In late gestation, the neonatal cerebellum (causing neonatal hypoplasia
Causes foetal death and abortion in early pregnancy
What are the clinical signs of feline panleucopenia?
Sudden death
Profuse diarrhoea
Pyrexia, depression, anorexia
Panleucopenia
Cerebellar hypoplasia in kittens
As they eat food they cannot hold their head up and food will go all over their face rather than in their mouth
What can be used to treat feline panleucopenia?
Interferon (not licensed)
Fluid therapy
Antibacterials to control secondary infection
How can you diagnose feline panleucopenia?
Clinical signs and history (probably not vaccinated)
Faecal samples for identification of virus (eg most likely PCR these days or lateral flow test)
Post mortem examination: histopathology
How can you prevent infection with feline panleucopenia?
Vaccination: live and inactivated
Biosecurity
Elimination of virus from environment
Can cats infect dogs with panleucopenia?
Yes (and vice versa)
What are some feline viruses that have uncertain roles in disease
feline Astro virus
feline rotavirus- possibly mild enteritis in kittens
feline torovirus- diarrhoea and protruding nictitating membrane
How may cats contract cowpox
through catching rodents in summer and autumn
Why is cowpox more common in cats during the summer and autumn?
Numbers of rodents are higher
What are the clinical signs of cowpox in cats?
Typically starts with single primary lesion
Widespread secondary skin lesions often develop after 1-3 weeks
- Most animals recover
uneventfully - Occasionally systemic illness
may develop (especially in
immunosuppressed cats) - Cheetahs seem to be more
susceptible
What can cowpox commonly be confused with and why is this an issue?
Can be confused with flea bites which is often treated with steroids
- Steroids cause cat to be
immunosuppressed
Can humans catch cowpox off cats?
Yes
Can scar, can occur on the face
Is influenza virus H5N1 notifiable in cats?
Yes
But rare
How can cats catch H5N1?
From domestic or wild birds (eating them!) and possibly avian droppings
Can humans catch H5N1 from other humans?
No, so far only animal-human transmission
What are the clinical signs of H5N1 in cats?
Develop severe to fatal disease
- Raised body temperature
- Decreased activity
- Conjunctivitis
- Laboured breathing
Can H5N1 be transmitted between cats?
Yes
Excrete the virus from the respiratory and digestive tracts
How can you prevent infection of cats with avian influenza?
Stop pets having close contact with
- Dead or sick wild birds
- Droppings, feathers or
carcasses of wild birds - Feed and water bowls that wild
birds could have accessed
You should not feed your pet non-commercial raw poultry meat, game bird, wildfowl or other wild bird meat
Is feline spongiform encephalopathy still a significant disease?
Prion protein disease caused by same agent as BSE in cattle
Eradicated through changes in feeding
Causes behavioural changes, polyphagia, polydipsia, altered grooming habits, muscle fasiculations, drooling, altered gait
What are the three main feline vaccinations?
FCV
FHV
FPV
Should cats be given as many vaccinations as possible?
No: vaccinate each individual less frequently by only giving non-core vaccines that are neccessary for that animal
When should you vaccinate?
Efficacy of kitten vaccines are dependent on MDA levels which in turn are dependent on titre in dam and ingestion of colostrum
Repeat vaccination to kittens to cover unknown levels of MDA
Avoid live vaccines in pregnant queens
What are multivalent vaccines?
Incorporate more than one vaccine
- Ease of administration
- Less able to do risk/benefit
analysis for each individual
animal - Duration of immunity has to
be for product with shortest
duration
