Table_1_Astrovirus Outbreak in an Animal Shelter Associated With Feline Vomiting.xlsx

An outbreak of cat vomiting was observed in an animal shelter. Testing for known enteric feline pathogens did not identify a causative agent. Viral metagenomics on four mini pools of feces from cases and controls housed in the same area revealed the presence of feline astrovirus in all pools. Also found with fewer reads in one pool each were rotavirus I, carnivore bocaparvovirus 3, norovirus (NoV) GVI, and a novel dependovirus. The genome of the highly prevalent astrovirus was sequenced and classified into mamastrovirus species two, also known as feline astrovirus. Real-time RT-PCR on longitudinally acquired fecal samples from 11 sick cases showed 10 (91%) to be shedding astrovirus for as long as 19 days. Affected cats were sick for an average of 9.8 days, with a median of 2.5 days (range = 1–31 days). Unaffected control cats housed in the same areas during the outbreak showed five out of nine (56%) to also be shedding astrovirus. Feline fecal samples collected from the same animal shelter ~1 year before (n = 8) and after (n = 10) showed none to be shedding astrovirus, indicating that this virus was temporarily associated with the vomiting outbreak and is not part of the commensal virome for cats in this shelter. Together with the absence of highly prevalent known pathogens, our results support a role for feline astrovirus infection, as well as significant asymptomatic shedding, in an outbreak of contagious feline vomiting.

某动物收容所内暴发猫呕吐疫情。针对已知猫肠道病原体的检测未发现致病原。对来自同一区域内病例组与对照组的4份粪便微量混合样本开展病毒宏基因组学（viral metagenomics）检测，结果显示所有混合样本中均检出猫星状病毒（feline astrovirus）。此外，各有1份混合样本中还以较低测序读长（reads）检出轮状病毒I型（rotavirus I）、食肉动物博卡细小病毒3型（carnivore bocaparvovirus 3）、诺如病毒（Norovirus, NoV）GVI型以及一种新型依赖病毒（novel dependovirus）。对检出率较高的该星状病毒进行基因组测序，将其归类为哺乳类星状病毒2种（mamastrovirus species two），即猫星状病毒。对11只患病猫的纵向粪便样本实施实时逆转录聚合酶链式反应（real-time RT-PCR）检测，结果显示其中10只（占比91%）的病毒排毒时长可达19天。患病猫的病程平均为9.8天，中位病程为2.5天（病程范围1~31天）。疫情期间饲养于同一区域的未感染对照猫中，9只里有5只（占比56%）同样检出猫星状病毒排毒。在该动物收容所疫情暴发前约1年（样本量n=8）及疫情暴发后（样本量n=10）采集的猫粪便样本中，均未检出猫星状病毒排毒，提示该病毒与此次呕吐疫情呈暂时性关联，并非该收容所猫群共生病毒组的组成部分。结合本次疫情未检出高流行度已知致病原的结果，本研究结论支持猫星状病毒感染及显著无症状排毒现象，是此次传染性猫呕吐疫情的致病诱因之一。