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Since the 1970s, cats in Sweden, and later in and around Vienna, have been falling ill with a mysterious brain inflammation known as staggering disease. Affected cats develop fever, behavioral changes, a staggering gait and often paralysis of the hind legs, and most have to be euthanized. For decades Borna disease virus was the main suspect, but metagenomics finally solved the case: in 2023, rustrela virus, a close relative of rubella virus, was detected in 27 out of 29 affected cats from Sweden, Germany and Austria. Florian Krammer explains how cats catch the virus from the mice they hunt, why different mouse species carry it in Germany and Sweden, and why it has now also turned up in a mountain lion in Colorado. There is no vaccine and no treatment, and no human cases have been reported. He also introduces ViroKitty, a citizen science project in Vienna where cat owners can hand over their outdoor cats' prey for virus research.
Video of mountain lion in Colorado with staggering disease/rustrelavirus infection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtofjO4Tfds Information about rustrelavirus and staggering disease: https://www.abcdcatsvets.org/guideline-for-staggering-disease/ Project ViroKitty: https://soap.lbg.ac.at/virokitty-how-your-cat-can-become-a-virologist/
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Questions, feedback or topic suggestions? Feel free to contact us at: virological@podcastwerkstatt.com
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Krammer laboratory information
Krammer Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/krammerlab/
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Science Outreach and Pandemic Preparedness https://soap.lbg.ac.at/
Ignaz Semmelweis Institute https://semmelweisinstitute.ac.at/
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Conflict of interest statement
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has filed patent applications relating to influenza virus vaccines and therapeutics, SARS-CoV-2 serological assays and NDV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines which name me as inventor. Mount Sinai has spun out a company, CastleVax, to commercialize NDV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and I am named as co-founder and scientific advisory board member of that company.
I have previously consulted for Curevac, Merck, Gritstone, Sanofi, Seqirus, GSK and Pfizer and I am currently consulting for 3rd Rock Ventures (US) and Avimex (Mexico).
My laboratory has been collaborating in the past with Pfizer on animal models of SARS-CoV-2 and with GlaxoSmithKline and VIR on the development of influenza virus vaccines and therapeutics and we are currently collaborating with Dynavax, Inspirevax and Inimmune on development of influenza virus vaccines.
My work in the on immunity and infectious diseases in the US is supported by the National Institutes of Health, but also by FluLab and Tito’s Handmade Vodka. In the past I have also received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH and the US Department of Defense.
My work in Austria is supported by the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft and by the Ignaz Semmelweis Institute through the Medical University of Vienna.
