Viral Infections in Domestic Animals as Models for Studies of Viral Immunology and Pathogenesis

The field of viral immunology seeks to understand mechanisms of virus-host interaction with a view of applying this knowledge to the design of effective vaccines and immunomodulators that control viral infections. This brief review discusses several areas of the field that hold substantial promise for translation, but where further work is critically required to find solutions. We emphasize that our fundamental understanding of virus-host relationships is moving in leaps and bounds, but we lag behind in applying this knowledge to the successful control of many viral infections.

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Моніторинг розповсюдження вірусів серед домашніх котів і собак у м. Дніпропетровськ

Visnyk of Dnipropetrovsk University Biology medicine ◽

10.15421/021405 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 23-27

Author(s):

L. V. Yashchuk ◽

N. V. Cherevach ◽

A. I. Vinnikov

Keyword(s):

Viral Infections ◽

Age Groups ◽

Domestic Animals ◽

Infectious Hepatitis ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Viral Diseases ◽

Virus Infections ◽

Diagnostic Measures ◽

Respiratory Viral Infections ◽

Near Future

Cats and dogs kept at home, as well as other animals, are susceptible to infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms, including viruses. Viral infections in urban environments are extremely common and cause severe diseases in domestic animals which often lead to death, resulting in high material and moral damages to owners of animals. Therefore, investigation of the prevalence of pathogens of viral diseases is very important in our time. The aim of this work is to define the indicators of spreading viral diseases of animals in Dnipropetrovsk, to analyze the seasonal spread of viral infections in animals, and influence of sex and breed on the frequency of disease manifestations. Materials for research were obtained on the basis of three veterinary clinics in Dnipropetrovsk. During the study, we used serological methods of diagnostics of clinical materials, namely ELISA and IHA. Immunosorbent assay was performed using the thermostatic shaker ST-3 and strip immunoassay analyzer Stat Fax 303 Plus. Also we used commercial test systems VetExpert CAV Ag and Feline VacciCheck ImmunoComb®, based on the immuno-chromatographic method. During clinical studies of 491 animals (268 cats and 223 dogs) it was found that the most common respiratory viral infections in cats were calicivirus infection and rhinotracheitis, while in dogs there were viral diseases of gastrointestinal tract, i.e. enteritis and hepatitis. Using IHA method, we revealed the antibodies to respiratory viruses in the blood of deseased cats: to calicivirus – in 95 cats, to rhinotracheitis – in 60 cats; by ELISA method we identified antigens of parvovirus, enteritis pathogen, in biological material of 61 dogs, by IHA we found antibodies to virus of infectious hepatitis in 49 individuals. Based on these data, it has been revealed that during the winter months the animals suffered mostly the respiratory viral infections (60%), and in spring there were increased occur-rence of enteritis, observed in all age groups of animals. From May, hepatitis started to appear and prevailed for all summer months, mixed with enteritis (about 50% of total number of cases). Hepatitis was recorded both in cats and dogs. By the fall, recurrence was observed for calicivirus and herpes virus infections in cats, and the cases of enteritis decreased, while hepatitis was recorded until mid-October. Such statistics is kept relatively constant. The research results can be applied in the practice of veterinary laboratories for the development of diagnostic measures and prevention of viral diseases in domestic animals, as well as in the prediction of dissemination of viral infections in animals in the near future.

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Viral Infections of Domestic Animals

Annual Review of Microbiology ◽

10.1146/annurev.mi.18.100164.001413 ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 269-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G A Young

Keyword(s):

Viral Infections ◽

Domestic Animals

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The Diagnosis of Viral Disease by Electron Microscopy

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010005398x ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 270-273

Author(s):

William B. McCombs ◽

Cameron E. McCoy

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Hospital Stay ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Medical Profession ◽

Bacterial Pathogens ◽

Viral Disease ◽

Viral Pathogens ◽

Academic Interest ◽

The Past

Recent years have brought a reversal in the attitude of the medical profession toward the diagnosis of viral infections. Identification of bacterial pathogens was formerly thought to be faster than identification of viral pathogens. Viral identification was dismissed as being of academic interest or for confirming the presence of an epidemic, because the patient would recover or die before this could be accomplished. In the past 10 years, the goal of virologists has been to present the clinician with a viral identification in a matter of hours. This fast diagnosis has the potential for shortening the patient's hospital stay and preventing the administering of toxic and/or expensive antibiotics of no benefit to the patient.

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Detection of Nucleic Acids in Cells or Tissue Sections Using In situ Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100162545 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 16-17

Author(s):

J. R. Hully ◽

K. R. Luehrsen ◽

K. Aoyagi ◽

C. Shoemaker ◽

R. Abramson

Keyword(s):

Nucleic Acids ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Anatomical Location ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Reverse Transcription Pcr ◽

Cellular Source ◽

Gene Transcripts ◽

Initial Description ◽

In Cells

The development of PCR technology has greatly accelerated medical research at the genetic and molecular levels. Until recently, the inherent sensitivity of this technique has been limited to isolated preparations of nucleic acids which lack or at best have limited morphological information. With the obvious exception of cell lines, traditional PCR or reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) cannot identify the cellular source of the amplified product. In contrast, in situ hybridization (ISH) by definition, defines the anatomical location of a gene and/or it’s product. However, this technique lacks the sensitivity of PCR and cannot routinely detect less than 10 to 20 copies per cell. Consequently, the localization of rare transcripts, latent viral infections, foreign or altered genes cannot be identified by this technique. In situ PCR or in situ RT-PCR is a combination of the two techniques, exploiting the sensitivity of PCR and the anatomical definition provided by ISH. Since it’s initial description considerable advances have been made in the application of in situ PCR, improvements in protocols, and the development of hardware dedicated to in situ PCR using conventional microscope slides. Our understanding of the importance of viral latency or viral burden in regards to HIV, HPV, and KSHV infections has benefited from this technique, enabling detection of single viral copies in cells or tissue otherwise thought to be normal. Clearly, this technique will be useful tool in pathobiology especially carcinogenesis, gene therapy and manipulations, the study of rare gene transcripts, and forensics.

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