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There have also been a large number of reports in the USA showing B. bronchiseptica to be a respiratory pathogen in cats, especially young kittens. In 1998 Hoskins et al reported a seroprevalence of 24% and an isolation rate of 3.1% in a survey of 614 shelter cats in the USA. In 1996 Welsh reported 11 cases of cats with B. bronchiseptica infections from 10 different households around Oklahoma. Seven cases proved fatal, in which B. bronchiseptica pneumonia was a primary or significant cause of death. The majority of cases (7/11) were in kittens less than 8 weeks of age. All cases yielded positive B. bronchiseptica cultures from transtracheal washes or lung tissue. 9 of the cases were from animal shelters, catteries or multiple-cat households and 2 were from single cat households. |