RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether animals had serologic evidence of infection with Sin Nombre virus (SNV). DESIGN: Prospective serosurvey. SAMPLE POPULATION: Serum samples were obtained from 145 cats, 85 dogs, 120 horses, and 24 cattle between April 1993 and August 1994 and 54 coyotes between December 1994 and February 1995. PROCEDURE: Serum samples were analyzed by western immunoblot assays for reaction with SNV nucleocapsid antigen. Samples with reactivity to SNV nucleocapsid proteins were used to probe multiple-antigen blots containing recombinant fusion proteins derived from prototypic hantaviruses. Lung tissue or blood clots were used in nested reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays for a 320-nucleotide portion of the SNV G1 gene. RESULTS: Sera from 4 of 145 (2.8%) cats and 4 of 85 (3.5%) dogs had trace reactivity to full-length SNV-encoded nucleocapsid proteins. All samples from horses, cattle, and coyotes were nonreactive. Sera from cats and dogs that had trace IgG-antibody reactivity to nucleocapsid proteins were then tested for IgG-antibody reactivity to nucleocapsid proteins of prototypic hantaviruses. One cat had multiple cross-reactivities with these hantaviruses, consistent with exposure to a hantavirus; however, epitope mapping studies did not support this conclusion. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction studies of blood clots or lung tissue from 2 animals that had weak reactivity to SNV failed to amplify any hantavirus sequence. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Domestic animals, particularly dogs and cats, as well as coyotes do not appear to have a major role in the maintenance and transmission of SNV.
Assuntos
Animais Domésticos , Anticorpos Antivirais/sangue , Carnívoros , Infecções por Hantavirus/veterinária , Orthohantavírus/imunologia , Animais , Anticorpos Antivirais/imunologia , Antígenos Virais/imunologia , Arizona/epidemiologia , Western Blotting , Doenças do Gato/epidemiologia , Gatos , Bovinos , Doenças dos Bovinos/epidemiologia , Reações Cruzadas , Doenças do Cão/epidemiologia , Cães , Infecções por Hantavirus/epidemiologia , Doenças dos Cavalos/epidemiologia , Cavalos , Pulmão/virologia , New Mexico/epidemiologia , Proteínas do Nucleocapsídeo/imunologia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Estudos Prospectivos , RNA Viral/análiseRESUMO
Naturally acquired plague was diagnosed in 5 domestic cats. The cats apparently contracted the disease through contact with sylvatic rodents or their fleas in plague-enzootic areas. The diagnosis was confirmed by direct immunofluorescence and isolation of Yersinia pestis on culture of abscess material. Abscess formation, lymphadenitis, lethargy, and fever were consistent clinical findings.