Differential sensitivity of culture and the polymerase chain reaction for detection of feline herpesvirus 1 in vaccinated and unvaccinated cats.
The diagnostic sensitivities of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture were compared and correlated with clinical signs in 5 vaccinated cats and 3 unvaccinated cats that were experimentally infected with feline herpesvirus 1. Conjunctival swabs were taken each day from 0 to 14 days and on 21, 28 and 30 days after challenge. PCR (49.3%) was significantly more sensitive than culture (30.1%) as assessed by an adjusted McNemar's test to account for non-independence of results between days within each cat (P = 0.02). PCR was considerably more sensitive (34.1%) than culture (8.2%) in vaccinated cats (P = 0.001), whereas there was no significant difference in sensitivities in the unvaccinated cats, where the sensitivity of PCR was 74.5% and that of culture was 66.7% (P = 0.17). In vaccinated cats showing clinical signs, the sensitivities of culture and PCR were 14.8% and 55.6% respectively (P = 0.03), whereas in unvaccinated cats the sensitivities were 80.6% and 96.8% respectively (P = 0.07). This study suggests that disease due to feline herpesvirus 1 has been significantly underdiagnosed, particularly in vaccinated cats.
Sykes
J E
JE
Department of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Browning
G F
GF
Anderson
G
G
Studdert
V P
VP
Smith
H V
HV
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D014765:Viral Vaccines