The upper respiratory tract Flashcards
1
Q
Molecular diagnostic assays are available for many respiratory agents (e.g., FHV-1, FCV, C. frlis, Mycoplasma spp, B. bronchiseptica). Explain why a PCR positive result doesn’t always correlate with true infection
A
Cats can be asymptomatic carriers of these agents, and the FHV-1, FCV, B. bronchiseptica and C. felis assays also amplify vaccine strains of the organisms, which means that positive results do not prove a disease association
- this is especially true for FHV-1 and FCV, which may have a relatively high prevalence in the healthy cat population
- thus it is recommended to not perform these assays on cats with acute disease
