Classification
Taxonomy
- Family: caliciviruses .
Etymology
- Greek: calyx means cup, calicivirus has many cup-shaped subunits on its surface as seen by electronmicroscopy.
Distribution
- Worldwide.
- FCV is ubiquitous and high prevalence is seen in cats with non oral/respiratory disease. Prevalence is generally proportional to number of cats within a household group, with highest prevalences usually seen where large numbers of cats are housed together:
- Vet visiting cat population prevalence ~10%.
- Cats at cat shows in the UK ~25%.
- Cats living in large groups or rescue shelters ~25-40%; in some instances prevalence in large groups has been reported up to ~90% persisting for prolonged periods of time.
Significance
In cats- Significant cause of cat flu
(upper respiratory tract infection). - Characteristic lesions are oral ulcerations.
- Isolated from a high percentage of cats with chronic stomatitis.
- Chronic gingivitis
. - Rarer cause of shifting lameness.
- Inapparent infections and pneumonia may also be seen with FCV infection.
- Recently associated with a virulent systemic disease (FCV associated VSD).
Other species
- Does not affect non-felidae, although FCV-like viruses have been isolated from dogs; other species have their own caliciviruses.
Sources
Publications
- Recent references fromPubMed.
- Porter C J, Radford A D, Gaskell R M, Ryvar R, Coyne K P, Pinchbeck G L, Dawson S (2008)Comparison of the ability of feline calicivirus (FCV) vaccines to neutralise a panel of current UK FCV isolates.J Feline Med Surg10(1), 32-40PubMed.
- Radford A D, Coyne K P, Dawson S, Porter C J, Gaskell R M (2007)Feline calicivirus.Vet Res38(2), 319-35PubMed.
- Coyne K P, Dawson S, Radford A D, Cripps P J, Porter C J, McCracken C M, Gaskell R M (2006)Long-term analysis of feline calicivirus prevalence and viral shedding patterns in naturally infected colonies of domestic cats.Vet Microbiol118(1-2),12-25PubMed.
- Coyne K P, Jones B R, Kipar A, Chantrey J, Porter C J, Barber P J, Dawson S, Gaskell R M, Radford A D (2006)Lethal outbreak of disease associated with feline calicivirus infection in cats.Vet Rec158(16), 544-550PubMed.
- Schorr-Evans EM, Poland A, Johnson WE & Pedersen NC (2003)An epizootic of highly virulent feline calicivirus disease in a hospital setting in New England. J Feline Med Surg5(4), 217-226PubMed.
- Radford ADet al(2001)Molecular analysis of isolates of feline calicivirus from a population of cats in a rescue shelter.Vet Rec149(16), 477-481
- Dawson S, Willoughby K, Gaskell R Met al(2001)A field trail to assess the effect of vaccination against feline herpesvirus, feline calicivirus and feline panleucopenia virus in 6-week old kittens.JFMS3, 17-22.
- Binns S H, Dawson S, Speakman A J, Cuevas L Eet al(2000)A study of feline upper respiratory tract disease with reference to prevalence and risk factors for infection with feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus.JFMS2, 123-133.
- Radford A D, Dawson S, Wharmby C, Ryvar R & Gaskell R M (2000)Comparison of serological and sequence based methods for typing feline calicivirus isolates from vaccine failures.Vet Rec146, 117-123.
- Radford A Det al(1999)Quasispecies evolution of a hypervariable region of the feline calicivirus capsid gene in cell culture and persistently infected cats.Vet Microbiol69(1-2), 67-68.
- Thiel H Jet al(1999)Caliciviruses - an overview.Vet Microbiol69(1-2), 55-62.
- Vuuren van M, Geissler K, Gerber D, Nothling J O & Truyen U (1999)Characterisation of a potentially abortigenic strain of feline calicivirus isolated from a domestic cat.Vet Rec144, 636-638.
- Dawson S & Willoughby K (1999)Feline infectious upper respiratory tract disease - an update.In Practice5, 232-252.
- Dawson S, Gaskell R & Jarrett O S (1999)Vaccination in cats - an update.In Pract21, 71-74.



