Department of Small Animal Diseases with Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Sándor Belák
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health (BVF), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), P.O. Box 7036, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Herman Egberink
Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
Regina Hofmann-Lehmann
Clinical Laboratory, Center for Clinical Studies, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Fulvio Marsilio
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Diane D. Addie
Maison Zabal, 64470 Etchebar, France
Corine Boucraut-Baralon
Scanelis Laboratory, 31770 Colomiers, France
Katrin Hartmann
Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Clinical Laboratory, Center for Clinical Studies, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Maria Grazia Pennisi
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy
Etienne Thiry
Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, FARAH Research Centre, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liège University, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Uwe Truyen
Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Séverine Tasker
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
Karin Möstl
Institute of Virology, Department for Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
Margaret J. Hosie
MRC—University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
In the past, cats were considered resistant to influenza. Today, we know that they are susceptible to some influenza A viruses (IAVs) originating in other species. Usually, the outcome is only subclinical infection or a mild fever. However, outbreaks of feline disease caused by canine H3N2 IAV with fever, tachypnoea, sneezing, coughing, dyspnoea and lethargy are occasionally noted in shelters. In one such outbreak, the morbidity rate was 100% and the mortality rate was 40%. Recently, avian H7N2 IAV infection occurred in cats in some shelters in the USA, inducing mostly mild respiratory disease. Furthermore, cats are susceptible to experimental infection with the human H3N2 IAV that caused the pandemic in 1968. Several studies indicated that cats worldwide could be infected by H1N1 IAV during the subsequent human pandemic in 2009. In one shelter, severe cases with fatalities were noted. Finally, the highly pathogenic avian H5N1 IAV can induce a severe, fatal disease in cats, and can spread via cat-to-cat contact. In this review, the Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD), a scientifically independent board of experts in feline medicine from 11 European countries, summarises current data regarding the aetiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical picture, diagnostics, and control of feline IAV infections, as well as the zoonotic risks.
