Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Outbreak of deadly feline calicivirus disease in a French vet hospital
By Reynolds, Brice S et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2009·Department of Clinical Sciences, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A nosocomial outbreak of feline calicivirus associated virulent systemic disease in France.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of eight cats at a veterinary hospital in France developed severe illness due to a highly contagious virus called feline calicivirus (FCV), which can cause virulent systemic disease (VSD). Symptoms included typical signs of FCV, and unfortunately, two of the cats had to be euthanized, while three others died. The remaining three cats received medical treatment and recovered. The outbreak lasted about a month, and the virus spread beyond the hospital, infecting some students' pet cats as well. Genetic testing showed that all infected cats had the same strain of the virus, which was different from strains seen in outbreaks in the US and UK.
Abstract
This report describes a nosocomial outbreak of feline calicivirus (FCV) associated virulent systemic disease (VSD) in a French veterinary teaching hospital in 2005. The outbreak started in March and resolved within 1 month. Signs, clinical course, clinicopathological findings and lesions were typical of FCV-induced VSD. FCV infection was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Among the eight infected cats, two had to be euthanased, three died, and three recovered after medical treatment. Virus could not be confined inside the animal hospital and on two occasions, students' own cats became infected. Subsequent genetic sequencing studies confirmed that the eight cats were infected with the same strain of virus, and that it was distinct from those involved in the US and UK outbreaks of VSD. Virulence and viral excretion patterns of the isolated strain were further characterised by experimental infection.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19201637/