High prevalence of antibodies against feline calicivirus in Australian feral and stray cat (Felis catus) populations

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Funding Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Indigenous custodians of the unceded lands on which the samples for this study were collected, and their Elders past and present. We thank the staff of Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC), Dr Michael Archinal, Dr Sandy Hume and Jessica Bartlett for their assistance with sample collection during dog and cat management programs in Maningrida, Bonya and Engawala, and the cat owners of these communities. We are grateful to Dr David Schultz and the Schultz Foundation for their financial support of this project. We thank the many people who collected blood samples (and separated the serum) from feral and stray cats around Australia while undertaking cat management work, without which this research would not have been possible: Ralph Jones at Challenger Gold Mine; Graeme Finlayson and Clint Taylor at Bush Heritage Australia's Bon Bon Station; Pat Hodgens of Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife; Dr Katherine Adriaanse and the staff of Phillip Island Nature Parks; Kate Vinton and the staff of RSPCA Burwood East; Wyndham City Council rangers for capturing stray cats in the Wyndham City area of Melbourne and the veterinarians and veterinary nursing staff at Direct Vet Services in Point Cook for collecting samples from these cats; Dr Bree Cashmore at Vets on Parker in Templestowe, Victoria; staff from Parks Victoria, the Mallee Central Catchment Authority and the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and Alan Robley (Arthur Rylah Research Institute) and Ellen Cottingham (Melbourne Veterinary School) for their help with coordinating collection of samples at Hattah; Laurence Berry and other staff of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy at Mallee Cliffs National Park; Julie Trezise of the French Island Landcare Group; Sue Robinson of the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment; Dr Tess Vitesnik, Dr Ruth Pye and other staff at the Ten Lives Cat Centre in Hobart, Tasmania; City of Victor Harbor Council and Alexandrina Council rangers and the veterinarians and veterinary nursing staff at Victor Central Veterinary Clinic in Victor Harbor and Riverport Veterinary Clinic in Goolwa in South Australia; Ian Quinn and Liz McTaggart of Natural Resources Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Department for Environment and Water; Bill Low of Low Ecological Services in Alice Springs; Ninaz Morad at Yulara Resort; Alice Springs Town Council rangers and Dr Ken Johnsen at the Alice Springs Animal Shelter; and staff of the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory, particularly John Tyne, Elyce Fraser, Sheridan Martin, Dale Campbell, Tim Fernando, Mike Rawnsley, Paul Gardner, Rocky Simachila, Aleesha Worth, Aleesha Lesiuk, Nerida Liddle, Duane Heywood, Rob Mengler, Mark Anderson, Shannon Carne, Jessica Bonanni, Duncan Crichton, Gaylen Mentha, Jayne Chandler, Alex Price, Max Werner, Uta Grehn, Rachael Buzio, Dalton, Daniel McCormack, Diane Chanut and Mervin. We also thank Dr Patrick Taggart for his invaluable assistance with the statistical analysis of data.