Clinical Study and Rapid Detection of Feline Parvovirus in Suspected Cats by Polymerase Chain Reaction Method

Abstract

The aim of this research was to detect the presence of Feline Parvovirus (FPV) in blood samples of FPV suspected cats by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. This research used eleven fresh blood samples of FPV suspected cats which were obtained from the Internal Medicine Laboratory of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at UGM, Yogyakarta, Clinic Pet Care in Semarang and Medania Private Clinic in Yogyakarta. The DNA was first extracted from the blood using DNA isolation kit. Then the template of DNA was used for amplification by PCR method using CPV primers to target the Viral Protein-2 (VP-2) encoding gene. The PCR products were then visualized using 1% Agarose Gel electrophoresis and UV-Transilluminator. A positive result was indicated by the appearance of a DNA fragment in size of 518 bp which can be interpreted as the presence of FPV in the obtained blood samples. PCR products were then sent for sequencing to determine the nucleotide sequence of the VP-2 gene. The sequences obtained were aligned using multiple alignment method with three FPV isolates obtained from the database of Genebank using the MEGA6.06 software program. From the eleven cat blood samples obtained, 8 samples indicated positive with FPV infection. This results showed that PCR method can be used to detect FPV in samples derived from blood specimens from FPV suspected cats. Conventional PCR method was also used to confirm the cause of the symptoms shown by the infected cats as some of the symptoms such as gastroenteritis is quite common among many other viral infection.