A study on feline calicivirus wins the 2022 ABCD Young Scientist Award
The 2022 Young Scientist Award from the European Advisory Council on Cat Diseases (ABCD), funded by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, has been awarded to Dr. Andrea Spiri (33), from the Department of Clinical Diagnostics at the University of Zurich. She will make a short presentation and accept her award during the International Society of Feline Medicine Congress, to be held in Rhodes from June 30 to July 3, 2022. Her poster will also be available for viewing from her.
Feline calicivirus excretion and vaccinal immunity
The study analyzes vaccine immunity and environmental contamination in feline calicivirus (FCV) infection. "Anti-FCV antibodies do not fully represent the cat's immune status, and the heterologous cellular immune response after FCV F9 vaccination must be taken into account," explains Andrea Spiri. Her study also investigated environmental contamination with FCV after experimental infection. FCV RNA was found in all items tested in the cats' environment over a long period of time, including in the ventilation filter, suggesting the possibility of viral aerosol transmission.
Dr. Karin Moestl, Vice President of the ABCD, congratulated the laureate and commented: "Andrea has conducted an extensive study using a wide range of methods, which has led to new insights into various aspects of FCV infection and immunity, with relevance practice".
Cat-friendly sample collection
Dr. Regina Hofmann-Lehmann, an ABCD member and Andrea's doctoral thesis supervisor, added that she had integrated measures of refinement (3R) during her experimental studies with cats. "Andrea trained all her study cats with positive reinforcement for blood and sample collection so that all collections could be performed without anesthesia or physical restraint throughout the study." By doing so, daily interactions between the animal handlers and veterinarians and the cats in the study were fun, more relaxed, and stress-free, and in turn, the quality of the interaction for both cats and humans was significantly improved. Valuable and beneficial.
"Our company is strongly committed to supporting independent research in the field of feline infectious diseases, and the Young Scientist Award represents a wonderful collaboration between Boehringer Ingelheim and the ABCD," says Dr. Jean-Philippe Tronel, director of global technical services for pet vaccines from Boehringer Ingelheim. "We congratulate this year's winner and encourage everyone to check out previous winners, most of whom are still active researchers contributing to the health of our beloved cats."
The ABCD Young Scientist Award, created in 2008, is awarded annually to young scientists in the veterinary or biomedical sciences who have made an original contribution to the field of feline infectious diseases and/or immunology.
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