Feline Upper Respiratory Disease Complex: The detection and epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in Midwestern feline shelter populations

Feline Upper Respiratory Disease (FURD) is a complex disease characterized by, but not limited to, conjunctivitis, rhinitis, and tracheitis. Several pathogens encompass this disease including Feline Rhinotracheitis Virus (FHV), Feline Calicivirus (FCV), Chlamydophila felis (C. felis), Bordatella bronchiseptica (B. bronchiseptica), and Mycoplasma felis (M. felis). This disease process significantly effects cats in group housing situations such as animal shelters and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in these cats. Previous research has investigated the epidemiology of pathogens and risk factors in several geographical areas, the development of molecular diagnostic tools for the detection of pathogens, and the detection of previously unreported pathogens in this complex. This thesis encompasses three papers meant to address the objectives of atypical Mycoplasma detection in cats with and without FURD, validation of a field deployable molecular device for pathogen detection, and an overall epidemiologic evaluation of the unique Midwestern geographical area. The first paper investigated the hypothesis that Mycoplasma species occur in the cat at higher levels of diversity than previously appreciated utilizing the unique molecular based Pan-Myco SYBR qPCR assay for the detection of the Mycoplasma genus and may be contributing to FURD. Overall, 15 Mycoplasma species were detected including: M. gateae/canadense/arginini cluster, M. canis, M. hyorhinis, M. alkalescens, M. cynos, M. faucium, M. dispar, M. buccale, M. spumans, M. hominis, M. bovis, M. bovoculi, M. maculosum/leopharyngis cluster, 2 new unknown species, and Acholeplasma laidlawii.