title: Greater virulence of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus in cats than in dogs.
abstract: Highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus continues to infect animals and humans. We compared the infectivity and pathogenesis of H5N1 virus in domestic cats and dogs to find out which animal is more susceptible to H5N1 influenza virus. When cats and dogs were infected with the H5N1 virus, cats suffered from severe outcomes including death, whereas dogs did not show any mortality. Viruses were shed in the nose and rectum of cats and in the nose of dogs. Viruses were detected in brain, lung, kidney, intestine, liver, and serum in the infected cats, but only in the lung in the infected dogs. Genes encoding inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, Toll-like receptors, and apoptotic factors were more highly expressed in the lungs of cats than in those of dogs. Our results suggest that the intensive monitoring of dogs is necessary to prevent human infection by H5N1 influenza virus, since infected dogs may not show clear clinical signs, in contrast to infected cats.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Influenza Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, 220 Gung Dong, Yuseong Gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Heui Man
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun Hye
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yum
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Heui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D002415:Cats; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D004285:Dogs; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007249:Inflammation; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D013045:Species Specificity; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D051193:Toll-Like Receptors