Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus: Molecular Epidemiology and Phylogeny in Cats in Hong Kong.

ABSTRACT: Domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH) is an emerging virus related to the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The pathogenic potential of DCH in cats remains to be established. The molecular prevalence of DCH varies widely in the regions investigated so far. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, load, and risk factors for DCH detection among cats in Hong Kong, and to generate molecular and epidemiological data on the DCH strains circulating in cats in Hong Kong. DCH DNA was detected using DCH-specific qPCR in 57/513 (11.1%) residual diagnostic blood samples from owned cats. The median viral load was 8.85 × 10³ copies/mL of whole blood (range for the 5th to the 95th percentile, 3.33 × 10³ to 2.2 × 10⁵ copies per mL). Two outliers had higher viral loads of 1.

SUBMITTER: Capozza P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9865086 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature