A Florida cat named Pepper has made another amazing discovery.
John Lednicky, a Microbiologist at the University of Florida is Pepper’s owner and so far his furry friend has made two important discoveries.
In a new study, scientists have once again discovered an exotic virus infecting a dead rodent that had been caught by Pepper. This time around, Pepper’s furry hunting trophy helped researchers pinpoint an unidentified strain of orthoreovirus, a type of virus that infects humans and other mammals. The findings, and the virus’s complete genome, are published in the journal Microbiology Letters.–
It was Lednicky who brought Pepper’s fresh catch into the lab for testing.
His analysis revealed that the rodent, an Everglades short-tailed shew, carried a previously unidentified strain of orthoreovirus. These types of viruses can infect humans and other mammals, but scientists still don’t know much about their effects in humans. There have been a few rare cases of encephalitis, meningitis, and gastroenteritis linked to the virus in children, however. The new viral strain is officially known as “Gainesville shrew mammalian orthoreovirus type 3 strain UF-1.”
That is amazing.
I miss my cat, Jax who passed away last July.
Open thread.
