title: Epidemiological and pathological study of feline morbillivirus infection in domestic cats in Japan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Feline morbillivirus (FmoPV) is a novel paramyxovirus found to infect domestic cats. FmoPV has been isolated in several countries in Asia and Europe and is considered to have genetic diversity. Also, it is suspected to be associated with feline renal diseases including tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN), which affects domestic cats with a high incidence rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To clarify the state of FmoPV infection among domestic cats in Japan, an epidemiological survey was conducted. Twenty-one out of 100 cats were found to have serum antibodies (Ab) against FmoPV-N protein by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IF) using FmoPV-N protein-expressing HeLa cells. Twenty-two of the cats were positive for FmoPV RNA in the urine and/or renal tissues. In total, 29 cats were positive for Ab and/or viral RNA. These FmoPV-infected cats were classified into three different phases of infection: RNA+/Ab + (14 cats), RNA+/Ab- (8 cats) and RNA-/Ab + (7 cats). In immunohistochemistry (IHC), 19 out of 29 cats were positive for FmoPV-N protein in kidney tissues; however, the FmoPV-N protein was located in the inflammatory lesions with severe grade in only four out of the 19 cats. Since 15 out of 29 infected cats were positive for viral RNA and Ab, approximately half of the infected cats were persistently infected with FmoPV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A statistically significant difference was observed between infection of FmoPV and the presence of inflammatory changes in renal lesions, indicating a relationship between FmoPV infection and feline renal diseases. However, we could not obtain histopathological evidence of a relationship between FmoPV infection and TIN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Eun-Sil
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Nami
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Youko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hasuike
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Jungo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Okajima
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Metropolitan Animal Care and Consultation Center, Jounanjima Branch Office, Tokyo, 143-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imaoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan. morikawa@nih.go.jp.
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morikawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007668:Kidney / Q000821:virology; D018103:Morbillivirus / Q000235:genetics; D018185:Morbillivirus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D009395:Nephritis, Interstitial / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Cat; Epidemiology; Feline morbillivirus; Inflammation; Kidney disease