First molecular report of Feline panleukopenia virus infection in diarrheic cats at Can Tho City, Vietnam

Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) belongs to the family Parvoviridae and causes an acute viral infection in cats worldwide. Information on the circulation of FPV among cats is currently limited in Vietnam. Herein, the full–length VP2 gene and molecular characteristics of FPV isolated in diarrhea cats in Can Tho City were first exhibited. Phylogenetic analysis based on seven obtained nucleotide sequences revealed that the isolated sequences were clustered into a narrow group with FPV sequences in the neighboring countries such as China, Thailand, and Japan, and distantly grouped with the vaccine strains. Regarding nucleotide and amino acid sequence analysis, the nucleotide and amino acid homology of 99.98–100% and 99.99–100% among obtained sequences, and showed high homology with reference sequences, accounting for 97.38–98.51% and 98.96–99.27%, respectively. Besides, the nucleotide and amino acid sequences were a homology of 98.51% and 99.26% with two vaccine strains in GenBank. Regarding amino acid translation, seven obtained sequences were closely related to FPV strains, meanwhile, they were different from CPV–2 strains in GenBank at amino acid substitutions of K80, K93 and V103. Overall, this is the first detection of FPV in diarrhea cats and illustrated the molecular characteristics of FPV in the cat population in Can Tho City of Vietnam.