FELINE CALICIVIRUS ISOLATED FROM CAT URINE AND VACCINES THEREOF

摘要

The present invention provides an isolated feline calicivirus and mutants thereof, which were isolated from the urine of a cat with lower urinary tract disorder. The present invention further provides nucleic acid clones of the virus, in particular, a clone which encodes the capsid antigen of the virus. The present invention is useful for providing a live or killed virus vaccine comprising the virus or mutants thereof, a subunit vaccine comprising the capsid antigen of the virus, a nucleic acid vaccine encoding the capsid antigen of the virus, and a recombinant virus vector vaccine encoding the capsid antigen of the virus. The present invention also provides a method for isolating feline calicivirus from urine and an assay for diagnosing cats infected with feline calicivirus.