EPIZOOTOLOGICAL FEATURES OF CORONAVIRUS INFECTION IN CATS

Abstract

The relevance of the study of coronavirus infection in animals is conditioned upon the lack of sufficient information about the mechanisms of development of this disease, imperfect methods of diagnosis and treatment, and, most importantly, almost 100% of their mortality. The purpose of this study was to identify the age, breed, seasonal, and sexual characteristics of cats' predisposition to coronavirus infection and the development of infectious peritonitis. The paper presents the results of epizoothogolic features of the spread of coronavirus infection among animals of this species and feline infectious peritonitis during 2020-2022 based on the veterinary clinic “White Wolf” (city of Kyiv). During this period, 483 samples were examined from cats with symptoms of coronavirus infection. From these samples, using immunochromatographic analysis, a virus of the Coronaviridae family was detected in 399 animals, and infectious peritonitis was established in 63 animals. This paper highlights the results of a study of the age, breed, and sexual predisposition of cats to coronavirus infection and the development of infectious peritonitis. It was found that cats of any age are susceptible to coronavirus infection, while infectious peritonitis develops in animals aged from 2 months to 3 years. Coronavirus infection was most frequently found in mixed breed cats and British shorthair cats, infectious peritonitis – in Burmese and Bengal breeds. The study also summarised data on the seasonal manifestation of coronavirus infection and infectious peritonitis of cats. Based on the results of epizootological analysis, a nosological profile of infectious diseases was formed in animals of this species that had similar clinical symptoms of coronavirus infection and infectious peritonitis. Eight infections are presented, of which the most frequently recorded diseases were caused by viruses of the Herpesviridae, Caliciviridae, and Parvoviridae families. The results of this study provide new information about the epizootological features of the manifestation and development of coronavirus infection in cats, which allows not only improving the available diagnostic methods, but also developing new ones