Pet Cat in Florida Helped Scientists Discover New Virus Strain — and It’s Not the First Time the Feline Has Done It

A cat in Florida has once again helped scientists discover a new virus — and it’s not his first time!

Pepper, a 7-year-old black shorthair, belongs to Dr. John Lednicky, a virologist at the University of Florida (UF) College of Public Health and Health Professions.

According to the New York Post, Pepper often brings home rodents he catches outside. Instead of throwing them away, Lednicky takes the animals to his lab for research.

Recently, Pepper brought home the body of an Everglades short-tailed shrew. When Lednicky’s team tested it, they discovered a new strain of orthoreovirus. This type of virus is common in mammals and birds and can sometimes spread between species.

This isn’t the first time Pepper has been part of a scientific breakthrough. In 2024, another rodent he caught was found to have a new kind of jeilongvirus, Newsweek reported. This virus family includes the ones that cause measles and mumps, and the new strain had never before been found in North America. Scientists believe it could possibly spread to humans.

Lednicky told UF Health that scientists and health officials should “pay attention to orthoreoviruses, and know how to rapidly detect them.” While the new strain Pepper helped uncover is not an immediate threat to humans, UF Ph.D. student Emily DeRuyter explained that some forms of the virus have been linked to respiratory, brain, and stomach illnesses.

As for Pepper himself, the university says he shows “no signs of illness from his outdoor adventures” and will likely keep helping science by collecting specimens.

“This was an opportunistic study,” Lednicky said, according to UF. “If you come across a dead animal, why not test it instead of just burying it? There is a lot of information that can be gained.”

Lednicky continues to study rodents that Pepper brings home as part of his research on mule deerpox virus, a highly contagious disease that usually affects deer.