For the first time, a disease that can kill both domestic and feral cats has been discovered in the US.
a type of Rastrella virus The virus, called RusV — which is related to the widely known rubella virus, which causes skin rashes in humans — was detected last year in a female mountain lion in Douglas County, Colorado, according to a study published in the journal Coronavirus. emerging infectious diseases, This month.
In May 2023, the big cat was seen with lesions on her skin and signs of severe muscle weakness in her hind legs. She was also hesitant to get up and her mobility was also reduced.
Wildlife officials suspected the mountain lioness was suffering from some disease, but they weren’t sure what was causing her behavior. To end her suffering and prevent the destruction of brain tissue, the big cat was tranquilized and shot in the chest.
Next, the study authors began work to investigate the possible cause of the unknown disease.
Scientists said a study of tissue samples, the cat’s history and genetic sequencing showed she was suffering from RusV, a type of Rastrella virus. Rubivirus strainsRusvi is the cause of the disease known as “shocking disease”.
The study notes that staggering disease in cats is usually a fatal neurologic syndrome, and Rusvi was identified recently Animals show signs of wounds and weakness of the same organ.
It has been reported in domestic cats in Europe since the 1970s, and has also been found in rodents. A similar syndrome was observed in cats in Alabama 45 years ago, but the cause was unknown.
To demonstrate the link between the lesions and RsV, the researchers used hybridization methods previously developed for viruses. Hybridization is the process in which two complementary, single-stranded DNA — the genetic material in humans and nearly all organisms — or RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules bind together. RNA is a nucleic acid in all living cells that is similar to DNA.
Hybridization makes it possible to identify specific genes and analyze the levels of the molecule messenger RNA (mRNA) in cells. mRNA molecules carry genetic information that is needed to make proteins, which perform many important functions in the body, such as repairing cells and protecting the immune system.
These methods showed that RusV RNA was present in all regions of the cat brain and nearly all levels of the spinal cord, the authors said.
“We found particularly abundant or large, dot-like signals in the granule cell layer of the hippocampus and in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, which is similar to findings in cases of startle disease in cats from Europe,” said the researchers from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut in Germany.
The new virus discovered in Colorado, RusV, was compared with other viruses. This showed that the Colorado samples were related to known genetic sequences in Europe.
Scientists don’t yet know how widespread the virus is among domestic or feral cats in the United States.
The American Veterinary Medical Association said Symptoms to look out for include staggering gaitinability to retract claws, extreme sensitivity to touch, tremors and seizures. The illness usually lasts from a few days to a few weeks, but can last for more than a year.
This usually results in the death of the animal, which requires the animal to be euthanized.
“We’re not concerned if this is an isolated case,” said study author Dr. Karen Fox, a wildlife pathologist at Colorado State University. National Geographic“But traditionally, when we find diseases, it means you’re the tip of the iceberg, and over time there are many more diseases that we’ve overlooked.”