Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Modified-live feline calicivirus vaccine lowers virus and symptoms
By Spiri, Andrea M et al.·Published in Viruses·2021·Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services and Center for Clinical Studies·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Modified-Live Feline Calicivirus Vaccination Reduces Viral RNA Loads, Duration of RNAemia, and the Severity of Clinical Signs after Heterologous Feline Calicivirus Challenge.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats were vaccinated with a modified-live feline calicivirus (FCV) vaccine and then exposed to the virus to see how well it worked. The vaccinated cats showed fewer symptoms like fever and oral ulcers compared to those that didn't receive the vaccine. They also had lower levels of the virus in their bodies and less inflammation. After the second exposure, the vaccinated cats showed no signs of illness at all. This study suggests that the FCV vaccine can help protect cats from severe illness caused by the virus.
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Abstract
Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a common cat virus causing clinical signs such as oral ulcerations, fever, reduced general condition, pneumonia, limping and occasionally virulent-systemic disease. Efficacious FCV vaccines protect against severe disease but not against infection. FCV is a highly mutagenic RNA virus whose high genetic diversity poses a challenge in vaccine design. The use of only one modified-live FCV strain over several decades might have driven the viral evolution towards more vaccine-resistant variants. The present study investigated the clinical signs, duration, and amount of FCV shedding, RNAemia, haematological changes and acute phase protein reaction in SPF cats after subcutaneous modified-live single strain FCV vaccination or placebo injection and two subsequent oronasal heterologous FCV challenge infections with two different field strains. Neither clinical signs nor FCV shedding from the oropharynx and FCV RNAemia were detected after vaccination. After the first experimental infection, vaccinated cats had significantly lower clinical scores, less increased body temperature and lower acute phase protein levels than control cats. The viral RNA loads from the oropharynx and duration and amount of RNAemia were significantly lower in the vaccinated animals. No clinical signs were observed in any of the cats after the second experimental infection. In conclusion, FCV vaccination was beneficial for protecting cats from severe clinical signs, reducing viral loads and inflammation after FCV challenge.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34452370/