Open AccessPrevalence of Chlamydophila felis and Feline Herpesvirus 1 in Cats with Conjunctivitis in Northern Italy
Author(s) -
Rampazzo A.,
Appino S.,
Pregel P.,
Tarducci A.,
Zini E.,
Biolatti B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of veterinary internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.356
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1939-1676
pISSN - 0891-6640
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2003.tb02517.x
Subject(s) - cats , felis , medicine , polymerase chain reaction , virology , veterinary medicine , biology , gene , biochemistry
The prevalence of Chlamydophila felis and feline herpesvirus 1(FHV‐1)infection in cats with conjunctivitis in northern Italy was investigated by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. In cats with conjunctivitis, C felis and FHV‐1 were detected in 14 of 70 (20%) and in 23 of 70 (33%) animals, respectively. None of the 35 control cats were positive for C felis , whereas 7 (20%) of these cats were positive for FHV‐1. Mixed infections were present in 5 of 70 cats (7%). Cats positive for C felis were significantly younger than control animals (P = .02), whereas no significant age differences were observed between FHV‐1‐positive cats and control cats ( P = .41) or between FHV‐1‐positive animals and Cfelis positive animals (P = .16). Cats sampled during acute‐phase conjunctivitis were also investigated for the presence of C felis by conjunctival scrapings. In this acute phase, substantial agreement was found when comparing the results of the 2 methods (K = .80). The association between PCR results and conjunctivitis was evaluated for the 2 pathogens. The presence of C felis was significantly associated with conjunctivitis ( P =.004), whereas the detection of FHV‐1 did not significantly correlate with the clinical sign ( P =.25), suggesting that, by itself, PCR is not suitable for the diagnosis of FHV‐1‐related conjunctivitis.