Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012;7(2):e32739.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032739. Epub 2012 Feb 28.

Discovery and genomic characterization of noroviruses from a gastroenteritis outbreak in domestic cats in the US

Pierfrancesco Pinto  1 , Qiuhong Wang, Ning Chen, Edward J Dubovi, Joshua B Daniels, Laurie M Millward, Canio Buonavoglia, Vito Martella, Linda J Saif
Affiliations

Discovery and genomic characterization of noroviruses from a gastroenteritis outbreak in domestic cats in the US

Pierfrancesco Pinto et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

Norovirus (NoV) RNA was detected in the stools of 6 out 14 (42.8%) 8-12-week-old cats with enteritis from a feline shelter, in New York State. Upon sequence analysis of the complete capsid, the six NoVs were found to be identical, suggesting the spread of a unique NoV strain in the shelter. The full-length genomic sequence (7839 nt) of one feline NoV, CU081210E/2010/US, was determined. In the capsid protein VP1 region, the virus displayed the highest amino acid identity to animal genogroup IV genotype 2 (GIV.2) NoVs: lion/Pistoia-387/06/IT (97.9%) and dog/Bari-170/07/IT (90.4%). These findings document the discovery of a novel feline calicivirus, different from vesiviruses, and extend the spectrum of NoV host range. Epidemiological studies using feline NoV-specific diagnostic tools and experimental infection of cats are required to understand whether NoVs have a pathogenic role in this species.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic tree of caliciviruses based on the complete genomes (nucleotide).
The newly identified feline NoV CU081210E/10/USA is in bold. Bootstrap values are shown near branches.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic tree of noroviruses based on the complete capsid sequence (amino acid).
The newly identified feline NoV CU081210E/10/US is in bold. Bootstrap values are shown near branches.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Green KY. Caliciviridae: the noroviruses. In: Knipe DM, Howley PM, editors. Fields Virology. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2007. pp. 949–979.
    1. Zheng D-P, Ando T, Fankhauser RL, Beard RS, Glass RI, et al. Norovirus classification and proposed strain nomenclature. Virology. 2006;346(2):312–323. - PubMed
    1. Siebenga JJ, Vennema H, Zheng D-P, Vinjé J, Lee BE, et al. Norovirus illness is a global problem: emergence and spread of norovirus GII.4 variants, 2001–2007. J Infect Dis. 2009;200(5):802–812. - PubMed
    1. Martella V, Lorusso E, Decaro N, Elia G, Radogna A, et al. Detection and molecular characterization of a canine norovirus. Emerging Infect Dis. 2008;14(8):1306–1308. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martella V, Campolo M, Lorusso E, Cavicchio P, Camero M, et al. Norovirus in captive lion cub (Panthera leo). Emerging Infect Dis. 2007;13(7):1071–1073. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types