2.2 Faecal sample collection
From December 2016 to October 2017, faecal samples were collected from 24 domestic cats (FPV-cases) presenting to veterinary clinics in Sydney, Australia with signs associated with FPL including diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and/or unexpected death (Supplementary Data S1) (Van Brussel et al., 2019). FPV infection was confirmed using PCR and Sanger sequencing of the VP2 protein (Van Brussel et al., 2019). Faecal samples were also collected from 36 heathy, age-matched cats (healthy controls) from two shelters in Sydney from April to August 2017 (Shelter 1-AWL and Shelter 2-CPS). Age, sex, breed, admission date and date of last vaccination were recorded for healthy cats (Supplementary Data S2), all of which had been vaccinated at least once with a Feligen RCP live modified vaccine (Virbac, France) that contains attenuated FPV, Feline calicivirusand Felid alphaherpesvirus . Faecal samples were stored at -80oC after collection.