In vivo properties of a feline herpesvirus type 1 mutant carrying a lacZ insertion at the gI locus of the unique short segment.

The major cause of upper respiratory tract disease in cats in the feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1). FHV-1 replicates predominantly in the mucosal epithelium of the oral and nasal cavities, local immunity should therefore be the key target for vaccine development. Recombinant DNA technology enables accurate manipulation of the genetic content of the FHV-1 genome, hopefully resulting in a next generation of safe vaccine strains that can be used intranasally in cats. Integration of a reporter gene into the glycoprotein I (gI) homologous gene of FHV-1, resulted in strain C4-1-4-1 which displayed reduced replication not only in cell culture but also in the respiratory tract of infected cats. Oronasal application of strain C4-1-4-1 caused less severe clinical signs than local administration of the parent virus. In addition, oronasally vaccinated cats were better protected against the clinical signs of a challenge infection than cats vaccinated subcutaneously.