A novel nested PCR for the diagnosis of calicivirus infections in the cat.

A novel nested PCR (nPCR) assay is reported on the diagnosis of the feline calicivirus (FCV) infection. The test was performed on 47 ocular and 40 pharyngeal swabs collected from 47 cats with respiratory syndrome; among the 87 samples examined, 18 ocular and 23 pharyngeal swabs were positive in nPCR. The nPCR sensitivity was compared to other diagnostic techniques such as virus isolation on cell culture and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The nPCR was more sensitive than the virus isolation and RT-PCR; therefore, it can be used for calicivirosis diagnosis in cats.