Prevalence of Feline Calicivirus and Feline Herpesvirus -1 among Domestic Cats in Three Egyptian Governorates

Hagag, Abeer Mohamed; Alkhalefa, Noura Fysal; Abdelatty, Alaa Mohamed; Heleil, Bassiouni Abdelkader; Magouz, Asmaa Fawzy

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2025.386486.2858

Prevalence of Feline Calicivirus and Feline Herpesvirus -1 among Domestic Cats in Three Egyptian Governorates

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Virology,Fac of Vet Med ,Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt

² Department of Pathology,Fac of Vet Med ,Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt

³ Department of Theriogenology,Fac of Vet Med ,Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt

10.21608/ejvs.2025.386486.2858

Abstract

Upper respiratory tract infections are major causes of feline morbidity and mortality. This study describes the prevalence of Feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) and Feline calici virus (FCV) among domestic cats in three Egyptian governorates. One hundred and twenty conjunctival or nasal swabs were obtained from diseased cats from private pet animal clinics and shelters located in three Egyptian provinces (Cairo, El Gharbia, and Kafrelsheikh). FHV-1 isolation was done in the Chorioallantoic membranes (CAMs) of 13-days-old SPF eggs. Infected CAMs showed large white pock lesions. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the thymidine kinase gene (TK) of FHV-1 was positive in 34/120 (28.3%) of the suspected cases. In comparison, PCR amplification of ORF2 and ORF3 of FCV was successful in 32/120 (26.6%) of the suspected cases. Mixed infection with the two viruses were reported in 12/120 (10%) of the cases. Two FHV1 genes were sequenced, and the TK gene sequences were identical to globally strains in the GenBank. For FCV one of the amplified genes were sequenced and the ORF2 and ORF3 genes sequences of the FCV isolates shared 81-87% similarity with other reference strains in the GenBank.

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