Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline infectious peritonitis outbreak in Taiwanese shelter
By Wang, Ying-Ting et al.·Published in Veterinary research·2013·Graduate Institute of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: An outbreak of feline infectious peritonitis in a Taiwanese shelter: epidemiologic and molecular evidence for horizontal transmission of a novel type II feline coronavirus.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats at a shelter in Taiwan showed signs of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a serious disease caused by a type of coronavirus. Out of 46 cats, 13 were identified with typical symptoms of FIP, and seven of these were confirmed to have the disease after further examination. The outbreak revealed that the virus could spread between cats in the shelter, highlighting the risk of transmission in multi-cat environments. Unfortunately, many of the affected cats did not survive, but understanding the virus's behavior can help shelters manage and prevent future outbreaks.
People also search for: cat FIP symptoms · feline coronavirus outbreak · how is FIP transmitted · cat shelter disease prevention
Abstract
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a fatal disease caused by feline coronavirus (FCoV) infection. FCoV can be divided into serotypes I and II. The virus that causes FIP (FIPV) is believed to occur sporadically and spread infrequently from cat to cat. Recently, an FIP outbreak from an animal shelter was confirmed in Taiwan. FCoV from all the cats in this shelter were analyzed to determine the epidemiology of this outbreak. Thirteen of 46 (28.2%) cats with typical signs of FIP were identified. Among them, seven cats were confirmed by necropsy and/or histopathological examinations. Despite the fact that more than one FCoV was identified in this multi-cat environment, the eight FIP cats were invariably found to be infected with a type II FCoV. Sequence analysis revealed that the type II FIPV detected from fecal samples, body effusions and granulomatous tissue homogenates from the cats that succumbed to FIP all harbored an identical recombination site in their S gene. Two of the cats that succumbed to FIP were found to harbor an identical nonsense mutation in the 3c gene. Fecal shedding of this type II virus in the effusive form of FIP can be detected up to six days before death. Taken together, our data demonstrate that horizontal transmission of FIPV is possible and that FIP cats can pose a potential risk to other cats living in the same environment.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23865689/