Detection of Mycoplasma spp. and feline calicivirus in cats with ocular surface disease

INFECTION Baton Rouge – Andrew C. Lewin from the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and Xiaojuan Zhu from the Research Computing Support at the University of Tennessee, both in the United States, aimed to determine the prevalence of pathogens in shelter cats with active ocular surface disease (OSD). A total of 255 domestic cats from shelters with signs of active OSD were included. No samples were collected from healthy, unaffected cats.

Cats with active ocular surface disease were assessed for OSD. Combined oropharyngeal and conjunctival swabs were sent for rt-PCR/PCR testing for feline herpesvirus (FHV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV), Chlamydia spp. (CHL), Bordetella bronchiseptica (BORD) and Mycoplasma spp. (MYC).

The pathogens detected were MYC 76.4% (195/255), FHV-1 57.6% (147/255), FCV 42.7% (109/255), CHL 26.7% (68/255) and BORD 5.5% (14/255). Monoinfections occurred in 21.1% of the animals, with MYC being the most common monoinfection (12.5%), followed by FHV-1 (4.7%), CHL (2.4%) and FCV (1.6%); no animal had a BORD monoinfection. Bi-infections occurred in 36.4% of the animals, with MYC being detected in 30.1% and FCV in 12.9% of the bi-infections. Double infections with MYC and FCV together were detected in 9.8% of the animals. Many animals (35.3%, 90/255) were infected with three or more pathogens and in 7.1% (18/255) no pathogens were detected. OSD scores were not affected by any of the variables examined, including the number and type of pathogens detected.

The authors summarise in the July 2024 issue of VETERINARY OPHTHALMOLOGY that MYC, FHV-1, FCV, and CHL were frequently detected in this group of animals with OSD. Both MYC and FCV (alone or in combination with each other) were detected in several animals with active ocular surface disease, supporting previous observations that both can act independently as primary pathogens of ocular surface disease. (bs)

Authors: Lewin AC, Zhu X. Correspondence: Andrew C. Lewin, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, 2407 River Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. Email: alewin@utk.edu Study: Detection of Mycoplasma spp. and feline calicivirus in cats with ocular surface disease. Source: Vet Ophthalmol. 2024 Jul;27(4):382-387. doi: 10.1111/vop.13218. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38661719. Web: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vop.13218