Feline Herpesvirus Infection of Snow Leopard

Feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) is a common causative agent of domestic cats rhinotracheitis and gradually threatens the wild felid worldwide. The endangered snow leopard belongs to the family Felidae and is also the top predator on the Tibetan Plateau. Herein, FHV-1 was identified and isolated from three dead snow leopards with symptom of sneezing and rhinorrhea. To explore the relationship between FHV-1 and their death, histopathology and molecular biology was performed. The organs and nasal swabs were collected for examinations of histopathology, the nucleic acid of the pathogen, viral isolation, and sequence analysis. The results reveal that all three snow leopards were infected with FHV-1. The first case primarily died of old cerebral infarction and secondary non-suppurative meningoencephalitis probably caused by FHV-1. The second case mainly died of renal failure accompanied by interstitial pneumonia caused by FHV-1. The third case was doubted to be related to the reactivation of latency of FHV-1. The gD and gE gene sequence alignment of the FHV-1 isolate strain revealed that the isolated strain originated from a domestic cat. Therefore, FHV-1 infection can cause different lesions of snow leopards and shows a high risk for the wild felid. We should focus more on protecting felid against threatening of FHV-1 infection originating from domestic cats.