Overland Park, Kan., July 18, 2007
Jeanne Prins never would have suspected her cats could be at risk for a deadly virus. As a longtime cat owner, Prins took precautions to keep her feline friends safe from infectious disease. Unfortunately, Prins learned about an emerging and deadly threat to cats when she lost three of her own unexpectedly.
The disease is virulent systemic feline calicivirus (VS-FCV), a highly contagious and potentially fatal mutation of traditional calicivirus. While traditional feline calicivirus is a common cold-like viral disease that rarely causes serious complications and is rarely fatal, VS-FCV has a significantly higher mortality rate.
“Cats affected by this disease can die, and those that do not die may take several weeks to return to normal,” says Gary D Norsworthy, DVM, DABPV, owner of Alamo Feline Health Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Prins took measures to keep her cats away from infectious diseases by never letting them outdoors, keeping up with their vaccinations and being cautious about letting new animals into the house. VS-FCV, however, still made its way into her home, and once the disease was there, it spread rapidly, affecting five cats from six months to 20 years of age. Within days of showing clinical signs of infection, three of Prins’ cats died.
In addition to the mortality rate, VS-FCV is a danger because it can be transmitted easily from cat to cat through hair, dander, saliva, blood, feces, urine, and eye and nose secretions. It also can be transmitted without any direct exposure to an infected cat because the virus spreads easily via objects, such as clothing, tables, doorknobs, shoes and hands. |
