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Review
. 2022 Mar 23;14(4):663.
doi: 10.3390/v14040663.

Emerging Respiratory Viruses of Cats

Andrea Palombieri  1 , Federica Di Profio  1 , Paola Fruci  1 , Vittorio Sarchese  1 , Vito Martella  2 , Fulvio Marsilio  1 , Barbara Di Martino  1
Affiliations
Review

Emerging Respiratory Viruses of Cats

Andrea Palombieri et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

In recent years, advances in diagnostics and deep sequencing technologies have led to the identification and characterization of novel viruses in cats as protoparviruses and chaphamaparvoviruses, unveiling the diversity of the feline virome in the respiratory tract. Observational, epidemiological and experimental data are necessary to demonstrate firmly if some viruses are able to cause disease, as this information may be confounded by virus- or host-related factors. Also, in recent years, researchers were able to monitor multiple examples of transmission to felids of viruses with high pathogenic potential, such as the influenza virus strains H5N1, H1N1, H7N2, H5N6 and H3N2, and in the late 2019, the human hypervirulent coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These findings suggest that the study of viral infections always requires a multi-disciplinary approach inspired by the One Health vision. By reviewing the literature, we provide herewith an update on the emerging viruses identified in cats and their potential association with respiratory disease.

Keywords: cats; emerging respiratory viruses; epidemiology; etiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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