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A UK survey carried out at the University of Liverpool examined the seroprevalence of B. bronchiseptica in a variety of cat households (McArdle et al 1994). Overall 72% of 126 cats had experience of exposure to B. bronchiseptica. The highest rates of exposure were seen in multi-cat households and rescue catteries (83-87%). In private households containing 1-3 cats 29% of those sampled were seropositive (see Table 2). Attempts were also made to isolate B. bronchiseptica from oropharyngeal swabs taken from cats with or without signs of URTD. B. bronchiseptica could only be isolated from cats with respiratory disease, or those which had been in contact with such cats. Furthermore, as can be seen in Table 2 it was found that the prevalence of antibodies to B. bronchiseptica in cats with a history of URT disease was approximately 85%, compared to approximately 30% in cats with no such history. These findings indicate that past exposure to the bacterium was not incidental but associated with disease. |