Molecular diagnosis of Felid Alphaherpesvirus 1 (FeHV-1) in cats and detecting the role of asymptomatic cats in the epidemiology of the infection

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 13 - 19, 30.04.2022

Yakup Yıldırım , Seval Bilge Dağalp , Fırat Doğan , Ali Küçük , Gülizar Acar Ramazan Yıldız , Mehmet Kale , Sibel Hasırcıoğlu , Kamil Atlı , Hasbi Sait Saltık

https://doi.org/10.24880/maeuvfd.1008528

Abstract

Felid Alphaherpesvirus 1 (FeHV-1), one of the most common pathogens of cat respiratory system, mostly proceeds with symptoms such as fever, mucopurulent nasal flow, conjunctivitis and loss of appetite and might cause death especially in kittens following lower respiratory system infections. Transmission of the infection occurs via upper respiratory tract secret and excreta of acute and subclinically infected cats. In this study, FeHV-1 nucleic acid presence was searched using PCR technique in blood samples with EDTA taken from 112 cats, 55 females and 57 males, from different races, owned or stray, between 6-8 years of age, either healthy looking or showing clinical symptoms of respiratory system infection and phylogenetic tree was created by carrying out index analysis of positive samples. FeHV-1 nucleic acid was detected in 33.93% (38 / 112) of the tested samples. The positivity rate was 20.83% (5 / 24) in healthy looking cats while it was 37.50% (33 / 88) in cats with clinical symptoms. The fact that positivity rates were so close to each other for cats in both groups made us consider that healthy looking cats might play a role in factor scattering as well as acute infected ones. Positivity rates in sampled cats according to age and gender revealed that the infection could be seen in cats of all ages and gender and might be more common in cats under 1 year old.

Keywords

Cat, Felid Alphaherpesvirus 1, PCR, Phylogeny

Kedilerde Felid Alphaherpesvirus 1’in (FeHV-1) moleküler tanısı ve asemptomatik kedilerin enfeksiyonun epidemiyolojisindeki rolünün belirlenmesi

Abstract

Kedilerin solunum sisteminin en yaygın patojenlerinden biri olan Felid alphaherpesvirus 1 (FeHV-1) çoğunlukla ateş, mukopurulent nazal akıntı, konjunktivitis, iştahsızlık gibi semptomlarla seyretmekte ve özellikle yavru kedilerde alt solunum sistemi enfeksiyonları sonrasında ölümlere neden olabilmektedir. dir. Enfeksiyonun bulaşması akut ve subklinik enfekte kedilere ait üst solunum yolu sekret ve ekskretleri yoluyla olmaktadır. Bu çalışmada sağlıklı görünümlü ile solunum sistemi enfeksiyonu klinik bulguları gösteren, 6 ay-8 yaş arasında, sahipli veya sahipsiz, farklı ırklara ait 55 dişi, 57 erkek olmak üzere toplamda 112 kediden alınan EDTA’lı kan örneklerinde PCR tekniği ile FeHV-1 nükleik asit varlığı araştırılmış ve pozitif örneklerin dizin analizi gerçekleştirilerek filogenetik ağaç oluşturulmuştur. Test edilen örneklerin %33,93’ünde (38/112) FeHV-1 nükleik asidi tespit edildi. Sağlıklı görünümlü kedilerde pozitiflik oranı %20,83 (5/24) iken, klinik bulgulu kedilerde bu oran %37,50 (33/88) olarak belirlendi. Her iki grupta yer alan kedilerde pozitiflik oranlarının yakın oluşu etken saçılımında akut enfekte kedilerin yanı sıra, sağlıklı görünümlü kedilerin de önemli rol oynayabileceğini düşündürmüştür. Örneklenen kedilerde yaş ve cinsiyete göre pozitiflik oranları, enfeksiyonun her yaştaki ve cinsiyetteki kedilerde görüldüğü ancak özellikle 1 yaş altındaki kedilerde daha yaygın olabileceği ortaya konmuştur

Keywords

Felid Alphaherpesvirus 1, Filogeni, Kedi, PCR

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