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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

First report of feline herpesvirus 1 in sick cats in Egypt

By A. Magouz et al.·Published in Veterinary Sciences·2022·View original on Semantic Scholar

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Original publication title: First Report of Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Felid Herpesvirus-1 from Symptomatic Domestic Cats in Egypt

Species:
cat

Plain-English summary

A group of domestic cats in Egypt showed symptoms of upper respiratory infections, such as sneezing and nasal discharge. Researchers collected samples from 140 of these cats and found that about 11% tested positive for feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1), a common cause of these infections. The virus was confirmed through laboratory tests, and this study marks the first time FHV-1 has been reported in cats in Egypt. More research is needed to understand the virus's impact and to evaluate vaccine effectiveness.

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Abstract

Feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1) is one of the main causes of upper respiratory tract infection in cats. Despite its veterinary importance, no previous studies investigated the occurrence of this virus in Egypt. In the present work, a total number of one hundred forty (N = 140) conjunctival and/or oropharyngeal swabs were collected from symptomatic cats during veterinary clinic visits located in two Egyptian provinces. Virus isolation was performed in the Chorioallantoic membranes (CAMs) of 12-days-old SPF eggs. Interestingly, the embryos showed stunting growth and abnormal feathering and infected CAMs showed edematous thickening and cloudiness with characteristic white opaque pock lesions. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the thymidine kinase gene (TK) was successful in 16/140 (11.4%) of the suspected cases. Two of the amplified genes were sequenced and the TK gene sequences of the FHV-1 isolates were highly similar to other reference strains in the GenBank database. Given the above information, the present study represents the first report of feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) in domestic cats in Egypt. Further studies on the causes of upper respiratory tract infections in cats as well as vaccine efficacy are needed.

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Original publication on Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/35202334