Propagation of bovine rotavirus by cats and dogs

SPF cats were experimentally infected orally with bovine rotavirus. All of them excreted virus over a period of at least two weeks after inoculation. Seroconversion was observed after one week for all the animals, but it did not stop viral excretion or prevent further excretion of the same or another rotavirus strain given later. Cats or dogs kept in the same cage as inoculated animals became infected and excreted virus, but seroconversion was not observed in these contact animals. None of the animals developed diarrhoea during the experiment. Cats are thus able to multiply bovine rotavirus, and transmission of this virus occurs between cats or between dogs and cats. Therefore, cats, like dogs, may play a role in the epizootiology of rotavirus infection in calves.