Phylodynamic and genetic diversity of parvoviruses of cats in southern India.

Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) and Canine parvovirus (CPV) infections are highly contagious diseases causing severe gastroenteritis with high fatality rates in cats. Realising the importance of cats as a potential source of genetic diversity for parvoviruses, the present study trace the evolutionary history and dynamics of parvovirus variants by characterizing the full-length viral polypeptide 2 (VP2) gene of parvovirus from domestic cats and cats from rescue shelters in Southern India. The study confirmed the presence of both CPV and FPV infections among the cat population. The full-length VP2 gene analysis of parvoviruses from cats; five had amino acid variations characteristic of FPV and one sequence was New CPV-2a/FPV. Three new mutations (hitherto not reported) were identified at 303rd, 441st and 554th amino acid positions. One potential recombination event was identified in VP2 sequence from a cat (New CPV-2a / FPV recombinant). The molecular analysis confirmed that cat populations are susceptible to CPV variants and FPV, thereby promoting superinfection and co-infection with multiple parvoviruses and potentially facilitating transmission, recombination and high genetic heterogeneity. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13337-022-00760-4.