Feline Virome-A Review of Novel Enteric Viruses Detected in Cats

Abstract

Recent advances in the diagnostic and metagenomic investigations of the feline enteric environment have allowed the identification of several novel viruses that have been associated with gastroenteritis in cats. In the last few years, noroviruses, kobuviruses, and novel parvoviruses have been repetitively detected in diarrheic cats as alone or in mixed infections with other pathogens, raising a number of questions, with particular regards to their pathogenic attitude and clinical impact. In the present article, the current available literature on novel potential feline enteric viruses is reviewed, providing a meaningful update on the etiology, epidemiologic, pathogenetic, clinical, and diagnostic aspects of the infections caused by these pathogens.

Keywords: cats; diagnosis; epidemiology; etiology; new enteric viruses; pathogenesis.

Figure 1

(A) Phylogenetic analysis based on the 750-nt sequence of the COOH terminus of the polymerase complex (RdRp) of GIV NoVs. The tree was generated using the neighbor-joining method and the Kimura two-parameter model. (B) Phylogenetic tree based on the full-length of the aa sequence of the VP1 protein of GIV and GVI NoVs, generated using the neighbor-joining method and Poisson correction. The rectangle delimits the VP1 sequences detected in cats.

Figure 2

Phylogenetic tree based on the full-length genomic sequence of the species Aichivirus A. The tree was generated using the neighbor-joining method and the Kimura two-parameter model supplying a statistical support with bootstrapping of 1000 replicates. Black triangles indicate the FeKoV sequences. Abbreviations: FeKoV, feline kobuvirus; CaKoV, canine kobuvirus; SewKoV, sewage kobuvirus; MuKoV, murine kobuvirus sewage; HuAiV, human aichi virus; PKS, porcine kobuvirus.

Figure 3

Schematic genome organization of FeKoV. The 5′ UTR, 3′ UTR, and the ORF (boxes) are indicated. The different predicted cleavage sites for the six complete genome sequences available on GenBank (TE/52/13/ITA, FK-13, 12D240, WHJ-1, 16JZ0605, 17CC0811) are shown below each gene border.