Prevalence of astrovirus and parvovirus in Japanese domestic cats.

Feces obtained from 204 domestic cats with gastrointestinal symptoms were genetically examined for feline astrovirus (FeAstV) and feline parvovirus (FPV), both of which are known feline gastroenteric viruses. FeAstV detection rates were significantly higher in winter (44.4%) than in other seasons, and in cats under a year old (27.8%) than in a year or older ones (12.4%) (P<0.05). In contrast, no significant seasonal and age differences were obtained in FPV detection rates. Upon FeAstV ORF2 sequence analysis, the 23 present isolates were classified into the same clade (Mamastrovirus 2) as the 18 reference strains from other countries. Our findings suggest that FeAstV is already circulating in Japan, and it is more prevalent in juvenile cats in winter, unlike FPV.

Anti-feline panleukopenia virus serum neutralizing antibody titer in domestic cats with the negative or low hemagglutination inhibition antibody titer.

To evaluate the accuracy of hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test as the index of feline panleukopenia virus (FPV)-protective ability, sera from 153 FPV-vaccinated cats aged ≥7 months with HI titer of <1:10-1:40, were examined for serum neutralizing (SN) antibody. SN antibody was detected (≥1:10) in 33 (62.3%) of 53 HI antibody-negative cats, and ranged <1:10-1:160. This suggests that FPV-antibody detection sensitivity of HI test is lower than SN test, and SN test is more suitable for the assessment of FPV-vaccine effect than HI test especially in cats with negative or low HI titer. SN titer was 1:32, FPV-protective threshold, or higher in all cats with HI titers of ≥1:20, suggesting it may be appropriate to set protective HI threshold at 1:20.