Detection of Ascitic Feline Coronavirus RNA from Cats with Clinically Suspected Feline Infectious Peritonitis

ABSTRACT Ascitic feline coronavirus (FCoV) RNA was examined in 854 cats with suspected feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) by RT-PCR. The positivity was significantly higher in purebreds (62.2%) than in crossbreds (34.8%) (P<0.0001). Among purebreds, the positivities in the Norwegian forest cat (92.3%) and Scottish fold (77.6%) were significantly higher than the average of purebreds (P=0.0274 and 0.0251, respectively). The positivity was significantly higher in males (51.5%) than in females (35.7%) (P<0.0001), whereas no gender difference has generally been noted in FCoV antibody prevalence, indicating that FIP more frequently develops in males among FCoV-infected cats. Genotyping was performed for 377 gene-positive specimens. Type I (83.3%) was far more predominantly detected than type II (10.6%) (P<0.0001), similar to previous serological and genetic surveys.

[1]  J. Sykes.  Feline Coronavirus Infection , 2013, Canine and Feline Infectious Diseases.

[2]  R. Malik,et al.  Risk factors for feline infectious peritonitis in Australian cats , 2012, Journal of feline medicine and surgery.

[3]  N. Pedersen,et al.  A comparison of the genomes of FECVs and FIPVs and what they tell us about the relationships between feline coronaviruses and their evolution , 1995 .

[4]  B. S. Holst,et al.  Prevalence of antibodies against feline coronavirus and Chlamydophila felis in Swedish cats , 2006, Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery.

[5]  T. Gruffydd-Jones,et al.  Coronavirus serology in healthy pedigree cats , 1992, Veterinary Record.

[6]  O. Jarrett,et al.  A study of naturally occurring feline coronavirus infections in kittens , 1992, Veterinary Record.

[7]  B. Pressler,et al.  Prevalence of feline infectious peritonitis in specific cat breeds , 2006, Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery.

[8]  Viviane Benetka,et al.  Prevalence of feline coronavirus types I and II in cats with histopathologically verified feline infectious peritonitis , 2004, Veterinary Microbiology.

[9]  Harry Vennema,et al.  Feline Infectious Peritonitis Viruses Arise by Mutation from Endemic Feline Enteric Coronaviruses , 1998, Virology.

[10]  J. Timoney,et al.  Feline infectious peritonitis. , 1976, The Veterinary clinics of North America.

[11]  B. Tennant,et al.  Studies on the epizootiology of canine coronavirus , 1993, Veterinary Record.

[12]  R. Malik,et al.  The relationship between the feline coronavirus antibody titre and the age, breed, gender and health status of Australian cats. , 2006, Australian Veterinary Journal.

[13]  R. Malik,et al.  Clinicopathological findings associated with feline infectious peritonitis in Sydney, Australia: 42 cases (1990–2002) , 2005, Australian veterinary journal.

[14]  B. Rohrbach,et al.  Epidemiology of feline infectious peritonitis among cats examined at veterinary medical teaching hospitals. , 2001, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

[15]  Ching-Ho Wang,et al.  Genetic diversity and correlation with feline infectious peritonitis of feline coronavirus type I and II: A 5-year study in Taiwan , 2008, Veterinary Microbiology.

[16]  N. Pedersen,et al.  The inheritance of susceptibility to feline infectious peritonitis in purebred catteries , 1996 .

[17]  Marian C. Horzinek,et al.  Feline Coronavirus Type II Strains 79-1683 and 79-1146 Originate from a Double Recombination between Feline Coronavirus Type I and Canine Coronavirus , 1998, Journal of Virology.

[18]  Marian C. Horzinek,et al.  Detection of feline coronavirus RNA in feces, tissues, and body fluids of naturally infected cats by reverse transcriptase PCR , 1995, Journal of clinical microbiology.

[19]  T. Hohdatsu,et al.  The prevalence of types I and II feline coronavirus infections in cats. , 1992, The Journal of veterinary medical science.

[20]  Susanna K. P. Lau,et al.  Coronavirus Genomics and Bioinformatics Analysis , 2010, Viruses.

[21]  T. Soma,et al.  Prevalence of feline coronavirus antibodies in Japanese domestic cats during the past decade. , 2012, The Journal of veterinary medical science.

[22]  O. Jarrett,et al.  Persistence and transmission of natural type I feline coronavirus infection. , 2003, The Journal of general virology.

[23]  E. Thiry,et al.  Feline Infectious Peritonitis: ABCD Guidelines on Prevention and Management , 2009, Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery.

[24]  N. Pedersen,et al.  Feline Coronavirus Serotypes 1 and 2: Seroprevalence and Association with Disease in Switzerland , 2005, Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology.