Abstract Emerging viral outbreaks resulting from host switching is an area of continued scientific interest. Such events can result in disease epidemics or in some cases, clinically silent outcomes. These occurrences are likely relatively common and can serve as tools to better understand disease dynamics, and may result in changes in behavior, fecundity, and, ultimately survival of the host. Feline foamy virus (FFV) is a common retrovirus infecting domestic cats globally, which has also been documented in the North American puma (Puma concolor). The prevalent nature of FFV in domestic cats and its ability to infect wild felids, including puma, provides an ideal system to study cross-species transmission across trophic levels (positions in the food chain), and evolution of pathogens transmitted between individuals following direct contact. Here we present findings from an extensive molecular analysis of FFV in pumas, focused on two locations in Colorado, and in relation to FFV recovered from domestic cats in this and previous studies. Prevalence of FFV in puma was high across the two regions, ∼77 per cent (urban interface site) and ∼48 per cent (rural site). Comparison of FFV from pumas living across three states; Colorado, Florida, and California, indicates FFV is widely distributed across North America. FFV isolated from domestic cats and pumas was not distinguishable at the host level, with FFV sequences sharing >93 per cent nucleotide similarity. Phylogenetic, Bayesian, and recombination analyses of FFV across the two species supports frequent cross-species spillover from domestic cat to puma during the last century, as well as frequent puma-to-puma intraspecific transmission in Colorado, USA. Two FFV variants, distinguished by significant difference in the surface unit of the envelope protein, were commonly found in both hosts. This trait is also shared by simian foamy virus and may represent variation in cell tropism or a unique immune evasion mechanism. This study elucidates evolutionary and cross-species transmission dynamics of a highly prevalent multi-host adapted virus, a system which can further be applied to model spillover and transmission of pathogenic viruses resulting in widespread infection in the new host.

中文翻译：

---

家养猫科动物和野生猫科动物之间频繁发生泡沫病毒跨物种传播

摘要 由宿主转换引起的新出现的病毒爆发是一个持续受到科学关注的领域。此类事件可能导致疾病流行，或者在某些情况下导致临床上无症状的结果。这些事件可能相对常见，可以作为更好地了解疾病动态的工具，并可能导致宿主行为、繁殖力以及最终生存的变化。猫泡沫病毒（FFV）是全球范围内感染家猫的常见逆转录病毒，在北美美洲狮（Puma concolor）中也有记录。FFV 在家猫中的普遍性及其感染野生猫科动物（包括美洲狮）的能力，为研究跨营养级别（食物链中的位置）的跨物种传播以及直接接触后个体之间传播的病原体的进化提供了一个理想的系统。在这里，我们介绍了对美洲狮 FFV 进行广泛分子分析的结果，重点关注科罗拉多州的两个地点，并与本研究和之前的研究中从家猫中回收的 FFV 相关。这两个地区的美洲狮 FFV 患病率很高，分别为 77%（城市接口点）和 48%（农村点）。生活在三个州的美洲狮的 FFV 比较；科罗拉多州、佛罗里达州和加利福尼亚州表明 FFV 在北美广泛分布。从家猫和美洲狮中分离出的 FFV 在宿主水平上无法区分，FFV 序列具有 >93% 的核苷酸相似性。对这两个物种的 FFV 的系统发育、贝叶斯和重组分析支持上个世纪从家猫到美洲狮频繁的跨物种溢出，以及美国科罗拉多州频繁的美洲狮到美洲狮的种内传播。两种 FFV 变体的区别在于包膜蛋白表面单元的显着差异，在两种宿主中均常见。猿猴泡沫病毒也具有这种特征，可能代表细胞趋向性的变化或独特的免疫逃避机制。这项研究阐明了高度流行的多宿主适应病毒的进化和跨物种传播动力学，该系统可以进一步应用于模拟病原病毒的溢出和传播，从而导致新宿主广泛感染。