Basic biological characterization of feline morbillivirus

Feline morbillivirus (FmoPV) is an emerging virus that was recently discoveredin domestic cats with chronic nephritis. Despite the potential role of FmoPV in chronicnephritis, little is known about its biological characteristics. In this study, weestablished a quantitative assay of FmoPV by using an indirect immunofluorescencetechnique. Viral titers of FmoPV were determined in one week. Treatment withpolybrene^® or trypsin which was previously used in virus isolation did notaugment the virus titers. FmoPV was notably stable at 4°C, retaining high titers for atleast 12 days. Heat-treatment at 60°C and 70°C effectively inactivated FmoPV in 10 and 2min, respectively. The biological characteristics of FmoPV reported here will bebeneficial for establishing an efficient virus isolation method and will provide importantinformation to take a measure to reduce the risk of FmoPV infection.