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

• Published in: Journal of Veterinary Medical Science Vol. 75; no. 10; pp. 1389 - 1392
• Main Authors: SOMA, Takehisa, WADA, Makoto, TAHARAGUCHI, Satoshi, TAJIMA, Tomoko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan JAPANESE SOCIETY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE 01.10.2013; Japan Science and Technology Agency; The Japanese Society of Veterinary Science
• Subjects: Age Factors; Animals; Ascites - virology; Cats; Coronavirus, Feline - genetics; Coronavirus, Feline - isolation & purification; domestic cat; effusive FIP; feline coronavirus; Feline Infectious Peritonitis - epidemiology; Feline Infectious Peritonitis - genetics; Feline Infectious Peritonitis - virology; Female; Genotype; Japan; Japan - epidemiology; Male; Prevalence; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; RNA; RNA, Viral - chemistry; RNA, Viral - genetics; Sex Factors; Virology; Japan
• ISSN: 0916-7250; 1347-7439
• DOI: 10.1292/jvms.13-0094

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.