Am. Hargis et al., Ulcerative facial and nasal dermatitis and stomatitis in cats associated with feline herpesvirus 1, VET DERMATO, 10(4), 1999, pp. 267-274
Ulcerative dermatitis of the nasal planum or haired skin of the face, assoc
iated with intranuclear inclusion bodies compatible with herpesvirus, was i
dentified in nine cats. Clinically, lesions were ulcerative and crusted, an
d often persistent. A tenth cat had focal proliferative ulcerative stomatit
is, also associated with intranuclear inclusion bodies. Microscopically, th
ere was necrosis and ulceration associated with prominent eosinophilic infl
ammation. Intranuclear inclusion bodies were noted in all cases, within the
surface or adnexal epithelium. Ultrastructural examination of skin from tw
o cats revealed virions morphologically compatible with a herpesvirus. Poly
merase chain reaction (PCR) specific for feline herpesvirus 1 on DNA extrac
ted from fresh-frozen or formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy samples an
d/or consensus primer PCR with DNA sequencing performed on DNA extracted fr
om formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy samples from seven cats revealed
that the virus was indistinguishable from feline herpesvirus 1. PCR was ne
gative in one of eight cats tested.