Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat vomiting outbreak in shelter linked to astrovirus
By Li, Yanpeng et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2021·Vitalant Research Institute, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Astrovirus Outbreak in an Animal Shelter Associated With Feline Vomiting.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats at an animal shelter experienced vomiting, and despite testing for common causes, no specific pathogen was found initially. Further testing revealed that feline astrovirus was present in the feces of both sick and healthy cats in the shelter. Most of the affected cats were sick for about 10 days, and many continued to shed the virus for up to 19 days. This suggests that feline astrovirus was responsible for the vomiting outbreak, and some cats may have been shedding the virus without showing symptoms.
People also search for: cat vomiting causes · feline astrovirus symptoms · cat shelter illness outbreak
Abstract
An outbreak of cat vomiting was observed in an animal shelter. Testing for known enteric feline pathogens did not identify a causative agent. Viral metagenomics on four mini pools of feces from cases and controls housed in the same area revealed the presence of feline astrovirus in all pools. Also found with fewer reads in one pool each were rotavirus I, carnivore bocaparvovirus 3, norovirus (NoV) GVI, and a novel dependovirus. The genome of the highly prevalent astrovirus was sequenced and classified into mamastrovirus species two, also known as feline astrovirus. Real-time RT-PCR on longitudinally acquired fecal samples from 11 sick cases showed 10 (91%) to be shedding astrovirus for as long as 19 days. Affected cats were sick for an average of 9.8 days, with a median of 2.5 days (range = 1-31 days). Unaffected control cats housed in the same areas during the outbreak showed five out of nine (56%) to also be shedding astrovirus. Feline fecal samples collected from the same animal shelter ~1 year before (= 8) and after (= 10) showed none to be shedding astrovirus, indicating that this virus was temporarily associated with the vomiting outbreak and is not part of the commensal virome for cats in this shelter. Together with the absence of highly prevalent known pathogens, our results support a role for feline astrovirus infection, as well as significant asymptomatic shedding, in an outbreak of contagious feline vomiting.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33644152/