Rustrela virus, a relative of rubella, identified as cause of dangerous feline disease

For cats with outdoor access, feline meningoencephalomyelitis, better known as “staggering disease”, is a serious and potentially fatal threat. The disease, which involves the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord in European domestic cats (Felis catus), was first described in Sweden in the 1970s and in Austria in the 1990s. Now, some 50 years after the first discovery of the disease, a team of researchers affiliated with several institutions including the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, has finally been able to identify the rustrela virus, a relative of the rubella virus that infects humans, as the cause.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft