Serum survey for antibodies to coronavirus, herpesvirus, calicivirus, and parvovirus in domestics cats from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, data regarding the occurrence of feline infections by Feline coronavirus (FCoV), Feline herpesvirus (FHV-1), Feline calicivirus (FCV), and Feline parvovirus (FPV) are scarce (Weiblen et al., 1988; Oliveira et al., 2003; Ruthner et al., 2005), and to this moment there are no scientific reports made in the region of Pelotas, RS, Southern Brazil. FCoV is associated to the development of mild enteritis (Vennema et al., 1998; Hartmann, 2005) or, when FCoV mutants are originated, it can lead to the development of a feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a progressive systemic disease with a wide spectrum of clinical signs and high mortality rate (Hartmann, 2005). FHV-1 and FCV are agents causing mainly upper respiratory tract diseases, but cats can be infected by these agents without showing clinical signs and become persistent carriers (Maggs et al., 1999; Radford et al., 2007). FPV is highly contagious, inducing an acute disease characterized by leukopenia, fever, depression, dehydration, diarrhea, and vomiting (McKnight et al., 2007). The present study investigated the presence of antibodies against FCoV, FHV-1, FCV, and FPV in the serum samples of 97 domestic cats from Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil. The antibody frequency was analyzed regarding information about age, gender, and habitat that would allow contact with other animals. Serum samples were collected from animals that would be submitted to elective surgeries at the Veterinary Hospital at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS and in five private clinics from the region, from August 2005 to October 2006. Blood samples were collected by cephalic or jugular vein puncturing and sent to the virology and immunology laboratory of UFPel where they were centrifuged for serum separation. The sera were submitted to serum neutralization test (SN) according to Hohdatsu et al. (1999), with a few modifications. Serum serial dilutions from 1:4 to 1:256 were incubated with 100 TCID