title: Post-pandemic seroprevalence of human influenza viruses in domestic cats.
abstract: The continuous exposure of cats to diverse influenza viruses raises the concern of a potential role of cats in the epidemiology of these viruses. Our previous seroprevalence study of domestic cat sera collected during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic wave (September 2009-September 2010) revealed a high prevalence of pandemic H1N1, as well as seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 human flu virus infection (22.5%, 33.0%, and 43.5%, respectively). In this study, we extended the serosurvey of influenza viruses in cat sera collected post-pandemic (June 2011-August 2012). A total of 432 cat sera were tested using the hemagglutination inhibition assay. The results showed an increase in pandemic H1N1 prevalence (33.6%) and a significant reduction in both seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 prevalence (10.9% and 17.6%, respectively) compared to our previous survey conducted during the pandemic wave. The pandemic H1N1 prevalence in cats showed an irregular seasonality pattern in the post-pandemic phase. Pandemic H1N1 reactivity was more frequent among female cats than male cats. In contrast to our earlier finding, no significant association between clinical respiratory disease and influenza virus infection was observed. Our study highlights a high susceptibility among cats to human influenza virus infection that is correlated with influenza prevalence in the human population.
authors.affiliation: Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA.|Department of Birds and Rabbit Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sadat City, Menoufiya 32897, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA.|Department of Poultry Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef 62511, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.affiliation: Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA.|Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Chang-Won
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: H1N1 subtype; cats; influenza A virus; pandemics; seroepidemiologic studies