Thomson NA, Dunowska M, Munday JS. The use of quantitative PCR to detect Felis cats papillomavirus type 2 DNA from a high proportion of queens and their kittens. Vet Microb.
2015 Feb 25;175(2-4):211-7.
Squamous cell carcinomas are a type of skin cancer in cats, and has been associated with infection involving papillomavirus of cats. According to the researchers, the aim of this study was to develop a real-time PCR assay to quantify FcaPV-2 DNA in plucked hairs and skin swabs from 11 healthy breeding queens and their kittens in order to learn more about the epidemiology of this virus.
Queens were tested prior to birth of kittens; kittens were then tested multiple times until one month of age to determine when they became infected with the virus. Nearly all of the queens were positive for virus, and kittens were exposed to it by 2 days of age. Amounts of the virus varied widely between households which may explain why some cats develop disease while others do not. The authors concluded that the virus is common and kittens are infected early in life from contact with the queen. (MK)