New virus linked to deadly kidney disease in cats
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A newly discovered virus may be one of the causes of a potentially final kidney disease in pet cats.
Tubulointerstitial nephritis is a disease that inflames the spaces between the kidney tubules, the tubes that impel fluid for filtration inside the organ. Many factors can cause tubulointerstitial nephritis in humans, from infections to autoimmune disorders to constant medications. But in cats, the cause is rarely known.
Now, researchers in Hong Kong have faith they've found at least one culprit: a new virus related to measles and mumps dubbed feline morbillivirus. A dog understanding of this virus causes distemper, which manifests as vomiting, diarrhea, coughing and deathlike neurological symptoms.
"All dogs are vaccinated against the canine distemper virus, because the dog morbillivirus can origin very severe disease in dogs with fever, pneumonia, brain infection, immunosuppression and epidemic," study researcher Kwok-Yung Yuen told LiveScience. "Teeth of the close relationship between dog, cat and human, no morbillivirus is found in cats yet. And one of top causes of extermination in cases due to nephritis leading to kidney failure is quite unnamed.
Source: msnbc.com