Abstract
Ninety-five effusion samples were collected from cats with suspected feline infectious peritonitis in northern Taiwan; these samples showed a 47.4% (45/95) feline coronavirus (FCoV) positivity rate on immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR. Young cats (≤24 months old) were found to have a significantly higher risk than cats >24 months old (odds ratio (OR) = 6.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.54–16.00). No significant association was found between the positive rates and sex or breed. The A/G ratio in positive cases was significantly lower than the A/G ratio in negative cases. Genotyping and sequencing of the positive cases revealed 71.9% single infection with type I strains and 28.1% coinfection with types I and II. No single infections with type II strains were noted. The type I sequences had high diversity, while the type II sequences had high internal sequence identity and were more similar to CoVs from other species, such as dogs, pigs, and various small mammals. This study demonstrates the latest analysis of FCoV infection cases in northern Taiwan.
Highlights
Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a member of the genus Alphacoronavirus, a group of enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses [1]
immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results simultaneously to have a tentative diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and classified them in the positive group
Among the cases analyzed in this study, there were no mismatches between the IFA and RT-PCR results
Summary
Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a member of the genus Alphacoronavirus, a group of enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses [1]. FCoV has two distinct pathotypes named feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) and feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), which cause different pathological symptoms [2]. FECV mainly infects cats through the fecal–oral route and causes mild and transient gastroenteritis and, at times, results in asymptomatic infections. FIPV emerges from a mutation of FECV within a small percentage of infected cats, and few horizontal transmissions are observed [3,4]. The mutation and pathogenesis leading to the development of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). FIP remains a frustrating systemic disease for veterinarians and pet owners due to the high mortality rate and limited diagnostic and treatment methods [8]
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