ABSTRACT
Objective To establish a real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR ( Q-PCR) method for detection of feline herpesvirus 1 ( FHV-1 ) in experiment cats and clinical sick cats.Methods Primers and TaqMan probes were designed and synthesized according to the published FHV-1 specific sequences of TK gene.FHV DNA standards were prepared using molecular biological techniques.The linearity, specificity, sensitivity, stability of the established Q-PCR method were tested.The method was used to detect 48 samples of cats.Results The linear range was 102 copies/μL to 109 copies/μL.The developed Q-PCR method showed no cross reaction with herpes virus type 1 ( HSV-1 ) , canine herpesvirus (CHV), pig pseudo rabies virus (PRV) and cat parvovirus (FPV).The sensitivity was 10 copies/μL.The coefficient of variation ( CV ) was less than 5%.There were 33 positive cases detected in the 48 samples of cats. Conclusions The developed Q-PCR method is good in linearity, specificity, sensitivity, stability, and may be used for rapid quantitative detection of FHV-1 in cats.
ABSTRACT
The prevalence of feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV), and Chlamydophila (C.) felis was studied in cats of an animal shelter in Korea. Total 78 cats without ocular and upper respiratory tract disease were examined. Specimens were obtained from ocular conjunctiva and oropharynx. Using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription PCR, three pathogens were simultaneously detected. In examined 78 cats, 49 (63%) cats were positive for FHV-1. However, all specimens were negative for C. felis and FCV. In conclusion, many cats recovered from FHV-1 infection remain subclinical carriers in shelter environment.