This cat is going viral.
A 7-year-old black shorthair named Pepper accidentally helped researchers discover a never-before-seen bug that could infect humans, the second time the cat has made a contribution to science.
Pepper has a habit of dropping off carcasses on the front mat of the home he shares with University of Florida virologist John Lednicky.
“He brings me these rodents … and then I bring them to the lab. That’s where all the magic happens,” Lednicky said.
One recent “gift” was a chewed-up Everglades short-tailed shrew which ended up in his Gainesville lab.
Lednicky and his research team discovered the shrew was harboring a mutated new strain of orthoreovirus, which is typically found in bats, deer, lions and monkeys, but known to jump between species.
“We wouldn’t have found it without him,” boasted Lednicky.
Last year, the kitty helped expose a novel jeilongvirus — a rare rodent-borne virus capable of infecting multiple species and the first of its kind found in the U.S. — when he brought home a dead mouse.
Pepper’s latest discovery — dubbed Gainesville shrew mammalian orthoreovirus type 3 strain UF-1 — was detected and extracted from the shrew by Ph.D. student Emily DeRuyter, 26, who co-authored the study.
“I wish I could put him as a co-author,” joked Lednicky of the plucky feline.
In humans, infection is usually mild or symptomless, but the virus has turned up in a handful of rare pediatric cases of meningitis, encephalitis and gastroenteritis. Scientists say the spread and severity remain unclear because orthoreoviruses are so understudied.
“We don’t know enough about this strain to say that it would be a risk to anyone yet,” said DeRuyter, adding it typically causes problems in people with weakened immune systems.
Researchers say some strains have shown up in unexpected places, including mink feed in China and a lion in Japan, raising concerns about how the virus travels, mutates and infects.
The UF research team said they plan to keep studying the latest strain to understand how it spreads and whether it poses a risk to humans — and with Pepper on patrol, the next big discovery might soon be on the doormat.
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