Environmental Contamination and Hygienic Measures After Feline Calicivirus Field Strain Infections of Cats in a Research Facility

Figure 1. Study design. The cats were first adapted and trained for blood and sample collection. At the age of 15 and 18 weeks, the cats were vaccinated subcutaneously (FCV (feline calicivirus) F9 or placebo vaccine). Seven months later (age of 46 weeks), all cats were challenged using the FCV 273 virus. Eleven months later (94 weeks of age), all cats were revaccinated once (FCV F9 or placebo vaccine) prior to the second FCV challenge with FCV 27 at 99 weeks of age.

Figure 2. Collection of environmental samples to test for FCV contamination in the cat rooms. (a) Water bowl: Four cotton swabs were humidified with sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and rolled over the area above the water level (red line). Four cotton swabs were soaked with the water from the bowl without pre-humidification (red circle). (b) Litter tray: Four cotton swabs were humidified with sterile PBS and rolled over the 6 × 6 cm2 marked area (red arrow). Two identical litter trays were available for the cats in the facility, and both of them were tested. (c) Food bowl: Four cotton swabs were humidified with sterile PBS and rolled over the 6 × 6 cm2 marked area (red arrow). Two food bowls were used to serve dry food in the afternoon, the empty bowls were left overnight with the cats, and the sampling was performed the following morning. (d) Transfer area between two rooms: Four cotton swabs were humidified with sterile PBS and rolled over the 6 × 6 cm2 marked area (red arrow). The ten cats were allowed to move freely between the rooms at all times. (e) Ventilation: Six pieces of 1 cm2 of the filter paper protecting the ventilation unit from dust and dirt were tested for FCV…

Figure 3. Schematic plot of the cat facility floor plan. The cats were housed in the combined cat rooms 1 to 4 (total 37.2 m2; dark orange) within the inner barrier area. The cat rooms were connected by open windows. The cats came into the clinical examination and blood/sample collection room once a day, still within the inner barrier area. They had no access to any other rooms. Only the light orange area was disinfected daily with sodium bicarbonate and IncidinTM Plus. ①: Outer barrier. ②: Inner barrier. Not drawn to scale.