Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Testing for feline coronavirus in cats - what you need to know
By Han, Jae-Ik et al.·Published in Journal of virological methods·2014·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Nucleic acid-based differential diagnostic assays for feline coronavirus.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a virus that can affect cats, and it shares similarities with other coronaviruses found in dogs and pigs. Researchers developed a special test that can quickly tell the difference between FCoV and these other coronaviruses. They created three sets of genetic markers that help identify each virus without mixing them up. This new test was able to accurately detect FCoV in cats, as well as the other coronaviruses, without confusing them with other germs. Overall, this method offers a fast and dependable way to diagnose FCoV in cats.
Abstract
Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a pleomorphic, enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. Owing to the differences in its genotype, FCoV belongs to a separate clade along with other viruses, such as transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) and canine coronavirus (CCoV), which can be isolated from cats. In this study, a PCR assay was developed to differentiate these coronaviruses concurrently. Multiplex differential RT-PCR was performed with primers based on the highly conserved coronavirus membrane protein. Three primer sets were designed: a primer pair (S1 and S2) that can bind to conserved sequences in all target coronaviruses, a CCoV-specific primer (S3), and a TGEV-specific primer (S4). Because of the high sequence homology among FCoV, CCoV, and TGEV, a nucleotide preceding the last pair of dissimilar nucleotides in S3 and S4 was substituted with an inosine to allow primer binding. This assay could detect and differentiate FCoV (n=7), CCoV (n=4), and TGEV (n=8) precisely and did not show any cross-reactivity with other pathogens. These results suggest that this molecular approach provides a rapid and reliable way to detect FCoV, especially in feline clinical specimens.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25088974/