Research Communications of the 27(th) ECVIM-CA Congress: Intercontinental, Saint Julian's, Malta, 14th to 16th September 2017

Bioptic samples, collected intra-vitam from the skin lesions, were processed for histologic and virological investigations. By histopathology, leukocyte infiltration and eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion bodies were evident in the skin punches. Different PCR approaches for detection and characterization of poxviruses showed that the collected samples contained a poxvirus, but they were unable to assign definitively the virus to a species within the genus Orthopoxvirus. The OPXV strain, Italy-09/17, was isolated on African green monkey kidney CV-1 cells and also on embryonated eggs, as demonstrated by the development of the typical pocks in the chorioallantoic membrane. A large amount of typical brick-shaped virions, approximately 320 9 240 nm in size, morphologically related to the genus Orthopoxvirus, were observed by negative staining electron microscopy. The nearly full-length genome of the virus was obtained through a next-generation sequencing approach carried out on the isolated virus. By sequence and phylogenetic analysis of selected genomic regions, which are commonly used to classify OPXVs, isolate Italy-09/17 was proven to form a separate cluster from both CPXV and ECTV. Extensive epidemiological surveillance in cats and wild animals, including rodents, will assess whether this feline OPXV circulates in domestic cat populations and whether cats are incidental hosts or represent the main reservoir of the virus.