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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1439354

Influenza in Feral Cat Populations: Insights from a Study in North-East Italy

Provisionally accepted
Lara Cavicchio Lara Cavicchio 1*Mery Campalto Mery Campalto 1Marilena Carrino Marilena Carrino 1Laura Lucchese Laura Lucchese 1Letizia Ceglie Letizia Ceglie 1Elisa Mazzotta Elisa Mazzotta 1Maria Serena Beato Maria Serena Beato 1,2Alda Natale Alda Natale 1
  • 1 Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of the Venezie (IZSVe), Legnaro, Italy
  • 2 Experimental Institute of Zooprophylaxis of Umbria and Marche (IZSUM), Perugia, Umbria, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Influenza A virus (IAV) can cause high morbidity and mortality in domestic and wild avian species and it is able to infect mammals as well. IAV in cats is sporadic and self-limiting but the recent findings of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) with genetic signatures of mammalian adaptation, in domestic cats, has raised new concerns about the potential role of cats in the virus ecology. The present study aimed to investigate the circulation of IAV in companion animals' shelters in Northeastern Italy. All samples were collected from feral cats living in feline colonies that were hosted in the companion animals' shelters for the requisite period to administer the veterinary treatments. Between 2021 and 2022, 389 oropharyngeal swabs and 279 sera were collected. All swabs tested negative for IAV and the only one ELISA positive serum sample resulted H5 positive by HI test with a titre of 1:80. Despite the sporadic occurrence of influenza in cats, continuous monitoring is crucial due to the evolving zoonotic nature of the virus.

    Keywords: influenza, cat, Italy, companion animals' shelters, feline colony

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cavicchio, Campalto, Carrino, Lucchese, Ceglie, Mazzotta, Beato and Natale. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lara Cavicchio, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of the Venezie (IZSVe), Legnaro, Italy

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