3.2.2 Bocaparvovirus
The genus Bocaparvovirus contains 25 recognised species that
infect many mammalian species (Jager et al., 2021). Three species of
feline bocaparvovirus have been described –Carnivore bocaparvovirus 3(feline bocavirus 1), Carnivore bocaparvovirus 4 (feline
bocaparvovirus 2) and Carnivore bocaparvovirus 5 (feline
bocaparvovirus 3) (Lau et al., 2012; Ng et al., 2014; Zhang et al.,
2014). We identified feline bocaparvovirus contigs in 11/23 (47.8%)
FPV-case libraries and 19/36 (55.5%) healthy control libraries (Figure
2). Feline bocavirus 1 contigs were detected in 18/36 healthy controls
(50%) and in 9/23 (39%) of FPV-cases (39% 9/23) (p=0.4317). Among
healthy controls, feline bocavirus 1 was the bocaparvovirus with the
most abundant reads. By contrast, feline bocaparvovirus 2 was the most
abundant bocaparvovirus detected in FPV-infected cats and was
significantly more frequent in these (21.7%, 5/23) than in healthy
control cats (2.8%, 1/36; p =0.0291). Finally, 6/23 (26%) FPV-cases
and 1/36 (2.8%) healthy control cats had feline bocaparvovirus 3
contigs (p = 0.0114) (Table 1). Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that
feline bocavirus sequences from the case and control libraries were
scattered throughout the phylogeny. Feline bocaparvovirus 2 and 3
sequences were more tightly clustered, but clades lack sufficient
sequence numbers to assess diversity (Figure 3).