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Feline coronavirus: FIP
Synonym(s): Feline coronavirus, FCoV, feline enteric coronavirus, FECV, feline infectious peritonitis virus, FIPV
Introduction
Classification
- Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a highly infectious enteric virus which causes subclinical infection or diarrhea in the majority of infected cats, but potentially a lethal monocyte-associated immune-mediated granulomatous perivasculitis, known as feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), in around 5-10% of infected cats.
- This page concerns the majority of FCoV infection only. For FIP information see Feline infectious peritonitis and FCoV/FIP tests FIP/FCoV tests.
- FCoV is highly prevalent in multicat environments such as found in breeding catteries and rescue shelters. FCoV can cause disease in large, as well as domestic, cats.
- Feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) and feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) are sometimes used interchangeably with FCoV, but the proper scientific name, as determined by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, is FCoV. However, in databases such as Genbank, early strains of FCoV may be named “FIPV-etc” or “FECV-etc” as indicators of whether they originated from a cat with or without FIP.
- Being an RNA virus, FCoV is highly prone to mutation, deletion and recombination. There are two types of FCoV: type I is wholly feline; type II arises by recombination events between type I FCoV, which is essentially feline, and canine coronavirus (CCoV).
- FCoV does not infect humans. However, one of the seven known human coronaviruses - SARS-CoV2 - can infect cats.
Taxonomy
- Order: Nidovirales.
- Genus: Coronavirus.
- Family: Coronaviridae.
- Subfamily: Alpha Coronavirus.
- Species: Feline coronavirus.
Etymology
- Corona is Latin for crown.
- The coronavirus has a halo of peplomer (glycoprotein spikes) visible on electron microscopy.
Distribution
- Worldwide.
- Ubiquitous - especially in pedigree catteries (over 80% of cats at shows are seropositive) and in cats in rescue shelters.
- Is also of concern in large cats, especially cheetahs, kept in zoos or sanctuaries.
- Type I FCoV is more prevalent than type II FCoV.
Significance
- Although most infections are subclinical, FCoV is a serious cause of diarrhea in the cat.
- Primary infection is of the small intestine enterocyte causing diarrhea and occasionally vomiting.
- In cat: following intestinal infection, a brief viremia occurs. The virus infects monocytes and can cause the potentially fatal disease known as feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) (even though not all cats with FIP present with peritonitis). FIP occurs in around 5-10% of first FCoV infections, but is less likely to occur upon re-infection.
- Following a brief systemic phase, the virus settles in the ileocaecocolic junction region, and type I FCoV is shed in the feces for months.
- The duration of type II FCoV shedding is unknown, although in one experimental infection it was around 2 weeks.
- Approximately 13% of type I FCoV infected cats become persistently infected, shedding virus for years in their feces: these cats rarely develop conventional effusive FIP, but the carrier phase may be a precursor to the colonic manifestation of non-effusive FIP.
- FCoV carrier cats can present with chronic, large intestinal diarrhea and some carrier cats become fecally incontinent.
- Non-domestic Felidae: FCoV can cause FIP in cheetahs and other big cats.
- In other species: not significant (can infect pigs and dogs experimentally).
- In humans: not zoonotic.
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Resting Forms
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Clinical Effects
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Diagnosis
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Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Addie D D Curran S, Bellini F, Crowe B, Sheehan E, Ukrainchuk L, Decaro N (2020) Oral Mutian® X stopped faecal feline coronavirus shedding by naturally infected cats. Res Vet Sci 130, 222-229 PubMed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.02.012.
- Addie D D, Covell-Ritchie J, Jarrett O, Fosbery M (2020) Rapid Resolution of Non-Effusive Feline Infectious Peritonitis Uveitis with an Oral Adenosine Nucleoside Analogue and Feline Interferon Omega. Viruses 12, 1216 PubMed www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/11/1216.
- Addie D, Houe L, Maitland K, Passantino G, Decaro N (2020) Effect of cat litters on feline coronavirus infection of cell culture and cats. J Feline Med Surg 22(4), 350-357 PubMed.
- Barker E N, Tasker S (2020) Advances in molecular diagnostics and treatment of feline infectious peritonitis. Advances in Small Animal Care 1, 161-188.
- Tekes G, Ehmann R, Boulant S, Stanifer M L (2020) Development of Feline Ileum- and Colon-Derived Organoids and Their Potential Use to Support Feline Coronavirus Infection. Cells 9(9), E2085 PubMed.
- Felten S, Hartmann K (2019) Diagnosis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis: A Review of the Current Literature. Viruses 11 (11),1068 PubMed.
- Pearson M, LaVoy A, Evans S, Vilander A, Webb C, Graham B, Musselman E, LeCureux J, VandeWoude S, Dean G A (2019) Mucosal Immune Response to Feline Enteric Coronavirus Infection. Viruses 11(10), 906 PubMed.
- Takano T, Akiyama M, Doki T et al (2019) Antiviral activity of itraconazole against type I feline coronavirus infection. Vet Res 50 (1), 5 PubMed.
- Shirato K, Chang H W, Rottier P J M (2018) Differential susceptibility of macrophages to serotype II feline coronaviruses correlates with differences in the viral spike protein. Virus Res 255, 14-23 PubMed.
- Tasker S (2018) Diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis: Update on evidence supporting available tests. J Feline Med Surg 20 (3), 228-243 PubMed.
- Barker E N, Stranieri A, Helps C R et al (2017) Limitations of using feline coronavirus spike protein gene mutations to diagnose feline infectious peritonitis. Vet Res 48 (1), 60 PubMed.
- Addie D D, le Poder S, Burr P, Decaro N, Graham E, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Jarrett O, McDonald M, Meli M L (2015) Utility of feline coronavirus antibody tests. J Feline Med Surg 17(2), 152-162 PubMed.
- Borschensky C M, Reinacher M (2014) Mutations in the 3c and 7b genes of feline coronavirus in spontaneously affected FIP cats. Res Vet Sci 97 (2), 333-340 PubMed.
- Paris J K, Wills S, Balzer H-J, Shaw D J, Gunn-Moore D A (2014) Enteropathogen co-infection in UK cats with diarrhoea. BMC Vet Res 10, 13 PubMed.
- Porter E, Tasker S, Day M J, Harley R, Kipar A, Siddell S G, Helps C R (2014) Amino acid changes in the spike protein of feline coronavirus correlate with systemic spread of virus from the intestine and not with feline infectious peritonitis. Vet Res 45(1), 49 PubMed veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1297-9716-45-4
- Terada Y, Matsui N, Noguchi K, Kuwata R, Shimoda H, Soma T, Mochizuki M, Maeda K (2014) Emergence of pathogenic coronaviruses in cats by homologous recombination between feline and canine coronaviruses. PLoS One 9(9), e106534 PubMed.
- Gil S, Leal R O, Duarte A, McGahie D, Sepúlveda N, Siborro I, Cravo J, Cartaxeiro C, Tavares L M (2013) Relevance of feline interferon omega for clinical improvement and reduction of concurrent viral excretion in retrovirus infected cats from a rescue shelter. Res Vet Sci 94(3), 753-763 PubMed.
- Golovko L, Lyons L A, Liu H et al (2013) Genetic susceptibility to feline infectious peritonitis in Birman cats. Virus Res 175 (1), 58-63 PubMed.
- Chang H W, Egberink H F, Halpin R et al (2012) Spike protein fusion peptide and feline coronavirus virulence. Emerg Inf Dis 18 (7), 1089-1095 PubMed.
- Terada Y, Shiozaki Y, Shimoda H, Mahmoud H Y, Noguchi K, Nagao Y, Shimojima M, Iwata H, Mizuno T, Okuda M, Morimoto M, Hayashi T, Tanaka Y, Mochizuki M, Maeda K (2012) Feline infectious peritonitis virus with a large deletion in the 5'-terminal region of the spike gene retains its virulence for cats. J Gen Virol 93(9), 1930-1934 PubMed.
- Addie D, Belák S, Boucraut-Baralon C et al (2009) Feline infectious peritonitis. ABCD guidelines on prevention and management. J Feline Med Surg 11 (7), 594-604 PubMed.
- Regan A D, Shraybman R, Cohen R D et al (2008) Differential role for low pH and cathepsin-mediated cleavage of the viral spike protein during entry of serotype II feline coronaviruses. Vet Microbiol 132 (3-4), 235-248 PubMed.
- Kipar A, Baptiste K, Barth A, Reinacher M (2006) Natural FCoV infection: cats with FIP exhibit significantly higher viral loads than healthy infected cats. J Feline Med Surg 8, 69-72 PubMed.
- Addie D D, Schaap I A T, Nicolson L, Jarrett O (2003) Persistence and transmission of natural type I feline coronavirus infection. J Gen Virol 84 (10), 2735-2744 PubMed.
- Addie D D & Jarrett J O (2001) Use of a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for monitoring feline coronavirus shedding by healthy cats. Vet Rec 148, 649-653 PubMed.
- Gonon V, Duquesne V, Klonjkowski B, Monteil M, Aubert A, Eloit M (1999) Clearance of infection in cats naturally infected with feline coronaviruses is associated with an anti-S glycoprotein antibody response. J Gen Virol 80, 2315-2317 PubMed.
- Herrewegh A A P M, Smeenk I, Horzinek M C, Rottier P J M, de Groot R J (1998) Feline coronavirus type II strains 79-1683 and 79-1146 originate from a double recombination between feline coronavirus type I and canine coronavirus. J Virol 72(5), 4508-4514 PubMed.
- Kipar A, Kremendahl J, Addie D D, Leukert W, Grant C K, Reinacher M (1998) Fatal enteritis associated with coronavirus infection in cats. J Comp Pathol 119, 1-14 PubMed.
- Herrewegh A A P M, Mahler M, Hedrich H J, Haagmans B L, Egberink H F, Horzinek M C, Rottier P J M, de Groot R J (1997) Persistence and evolution of feline coronavirus in a closed cat-breeding colony. Virology 234, 349-363 PubMed.
- Harvey C J, Lopez J W, Hendrick J M (1996) An uncommon intestinal manifestation of feline infectious peritonitis: 26 cases (1986-1993). JAVMA 209 (6), 1117-1120 PubMed.
- Gonon V, Eloit M, Monteil M (1995) Evolution de la prevalence de l'infection a coronavirus felin dans deux effectifs adoptant des conduites d'elevage differentes. Recueil De Medecine Veterinaire 171 (1),33-38.
- Herrewegh A A P M, de Groot R J, Cepica A, Egberink H F, Horzinek M C, Rottier P J M (1995) Detection of feline coronavirus RNA in feces, tissue, and body fluids of naturally infected cats by reverse transcriptase PCR. J Clin Microbiol 33, 684-689 PubMed.
- Hohdatsu T, Okada S, Ishizuka Y, Yamada H, Koyama H (1992) The prevalence of types I and II feline coronavirus infections in cats. J Vet Med Sci 54 (3), 557-562 PubMed.
- Sparkes A H, Gruffydd-Jones T J, Howard P E, Harbour D A (1992) Coronavirus serology in healthy pedigree cats. Vet Rec 131, 35-36 PubMed.
- Van Kruiningen H J, Ryan M J, Shindel N M (1983) The classification of feline colitis. J Comp Path 93, 275-294 PubMed.
Other sources of information
- Barker E N, Tasker S (2020) An update on FIP. In Pract 42, 372-383.
- YouTube channel of Diane D Addie: www.youtube.com/user/DrDianeDAddie
- Bitchute channel of Diane D Addie: www.bitchute.com/channel/ZEk9qdH9iDzm/
- The European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases: www.abcdcatsvets.org/feline-infectious-peritonitis/
Organisation(s)
- International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) (formerly the European Society of Feline Medicine) Place Farm, Tisbury, Wiltshire, SP3 6LW, UK. Tel: + 44 1747 871872. Website: https://icatcare.org/veterinary/isfm/
Laboratories experienced in FCoV / FIP testing / histopathology
- Veterinary Diagnostics Services Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Glasgow, Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, Scotland. Tel: + 44 141 330 5777; Fax: + 44 141 330 5748; Website: www.gla.ac.uk/schools/vet/cad
- Bristol Veterinary School, Bristol University, Langford House, Langford, Bristol, BS18 7DU. Website: www.langfordvets.co.uk/
- Biobest Laboratory, 6 Charles Darwin House, The Edinburgh Technopole, Milton Bridge, Nr Penicuik, EH26 0PY. Tel: +44 (0)131 440 2628. Fax: +44 (0)131 440 9587. Website: biobest.co.uk/
- Finn Pathologists, Unit 3C-3D, Mayflower way, Harleston, Norfolk, IP20 9EB. Tel: 01379 854180. Website : www.finnpathologists.co.uk.
- Scanelis Laboratory, 9 allée Charles Cros., CS 70006 31771, Colomiers Cedex, FRANCE. Fax : +33(0)5 34 50 40 38. Website: www.scanelis.com.