feline spongiform encephalopathy
{{Short description|Feline brain disease}}
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Feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the brains of felines. This disease is known to affect domestic, captive, and wild species of the family Felidae.{{cite journal | vauthors = Eiden M, Hoffmann C, Balkema-Buschmann A, Müller M, Baumgartner K, Groschup MH | title = Biochemical and immunohistochemical characterization of feline spongiform encephalopathy in a German captive cheetah | journal = The Journal of General Virology | volume = 91 | issue = Pt 11 | pages = 2874–2883 | date = November 2010 | pmid = 20660146 | doi = 10.1099/vir.0.022103-0 | doi-access = free }} Like BSE, this disease can take several years to develop. It is currently believed that this condition is a result of felines ingesting bovine meat contaminated with BSE.{{cite journal | vauthors = Hilbe MM, Soldati GG, Zlinszky KK, Wunderlin SS, Ehrensperger FF | title = Immunohistochemical study of PrP(Sc) distribution in neural and extraneural tissues of two cats with feline spongiform encephalopathy | journal = BMC Veterinary Research | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | pages = 11 | date = March 2009 | pmid = 19335885 | pmc = 2673214 | doi = 10.1186/1746-6148-5-11 | doi-access = free }}
Symptoms and signs
Clinical signs of FSE typically develop gradually in housecats, ranging from several weeks to months.{{Cite book | vauthors = Wells GA, Ryder SJ, Hadlow WJ | chapter = The Pathology of Prion Diseases in Animals | pages = 323–327 |url= https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110200171/html |title=Prions in Humans and Animals |date=2006-12-21 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter | doi = 10.1515/9783110200171 |isbn=978-3-11-018275-0 | veditors = Hörnlimann B, Riesner D, Kretzschmar HA }} Initial signs of the condition include behavioral changes such as aggression, timidity, hiding, hyperesthesia, loss of motor functions, and polydipsia. Other commonly observed motor signs include gait abnormalities and ataxia, which typically affect the hind legs first. Affected cats may also display poor judgement of distance, and some cats may develop a rapid, crouching, hypermetric gait. Some affected cats may exhibit an abnormal head tilt, tremors, a vacant stare, excessive salivation, decreased grooming behaviors, polyphagia, and dilated pupils. Ataxia was observed to last for about 8 weeks in the affected animals.
Diagnosis
This disease can only be confirmed via a post-mortem examination, which includes identification of bilaterally symmetrical vacuolation of the neuropil and vacuolation in neurones. Lesions are likely to be found in basal ganglia, cerebral cortex and thalamus of the brain.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}
Treatment
This is a terminal condition and there is currently no specific treatment for the disease.{{cite web |date=October 2013 |title=Feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE) |url=http://www.provet.co.uk/petfacts/healthtips/fse2.htm |access-date=2020-02-29 |website=Provet Healthcare Information}} In most instances, infected felines die spontaneously within a few months to years, or are euthanized due to this condition.
Epidemiology
This disease was first reported in domestic cats within the United Kingdom in 1990, only four years after the first reports of BSE.{{cite web | url= http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/bse/othertses/index.htm#fse | title= BSE: Other TSEs | work = Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) | publisher = gov.uk | access-date=2012-09-02 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817003032/http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/bse/othertses/index.htm#fse | archive-date=2012-08-17 | url-status=dead }} This disease is caused by a normal prion protein (PrPC) misfolding after exposure to a pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc).{{cite journal | vauthors = Kim YC, Kim HH, Kim K, Kim AD, Jeong BH | title = Novel Polymorphisms and Genetic Characteristics of the Shadow of Prion Protein Gene (SPRN) in Cats, Hosts of Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy | journal = Viruses | volume = 14 | issue = 5 | pages = 981 | date = May 2022 | pmid = 35632724 | pmc = 9148082 | doi = 10.3390/v14050981 | doi-access = free }} FSE is thought to be related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), as well as other forms of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) including, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, Scrapie in sheep and Chronic wasting disease in deer.{{cite journal | vauthors = Bencsik A, Debeer S, Petit T, Baron T | title = Possible case of maternal transmission of feline spongiform encephalopathy in a captive cheetah | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 4 | issue = 9 | pages = e6929 | date = September 2009 | pmid = 19738899 | pmc = 2732902 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0006929 | bibcode = 2009PLoSO...4.6929B | doi-access = free }} Since 1990, cases have been reported in other countries and other feline species in captivity, although most affected felines originated in the UK.{{cite journal | vauthors = Imran M, Mahmood S | title = An overview of animal prion diseases | journal = Virology Journal | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 493 | date = November 2011 | pmid = 22044871 | pmc = 3228711 | doi = 10.1186/1743-422X-8-493 | doi-access = free }} The average age of felines that have been affected by this disease is 11 years of age, with the age range being roughly 2–10 years. However, there is not any information regarding research into horizontal transmission under normal conditions between felines.
References
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{{Prion diseases}}
Category:Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
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