Isolation of feline herpesvirus 1 from the trigeminal ganglia of acutely and chronically infected cats.

Abstract

Feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV‐1) is one of the most common viral infections of domestic cats worldwide, estimated to cause 50% of all respiratory infections in this species. Feline herpesvirus 1 is also an important ocular pathogen of cats, causing conjunctivitis, epithelial and stromal keratitis, symblepharon formation, keratocon‐junctivitis sicca, and corneal sequestration. Despite the importance of this viral disease, major questions remain unanswered concerning the pathogenesis of its most important manifestation, the recrudescent infection. Although the taxonomic classification of FHV‐1 as an alpha herpesvirus implies the ability of FHV‐1 to establish neural latency, attempts at recovering the virus from the trigeminal ganglia of latently infected cats have typically yielded negative results. This failure has stimulated speculation that neural tissue is not an important site for latent FHV‐1. However, in the most successful of such studies, FHV‐1 was isolated from the trigeminal ganglia of 3 of 17 cats using an explant technique. In the present study, we describe the successful isolation of FHV‐1 from the trigeminal ganglia of cats using a similar tissue culture method.