TY - JOUR
AU - Attipa, Charalampos
AU - Warr, Amanda
AU - Epaminondas, Demetris
AU - O'Shea, Marie
AU - Hanton, Andrew
AU - Fletcher, Sarah
AU - Malbon, Alexandra
AU - Lyraki, Maria
AU - Hammond, Rachael
AU - Hardas, Alexandros
AU - Zanti, Antria
AU - Loukaidou, Stavroula
AU - Gentil, Michaela
AU - Gunn-Moore, Danielle
AU - Lycett, Samantha J.
AU - Mazeri, Stella
AU - Tait-Burkard, Christine
PY - 2025
DA - July
TI - Feline infectious peritonitis epizootic caused by a recombinant coronavirus
JO - Nature
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09340-0
AB - Cross-species transmission of coronaviruses (CoVs) poses a serious threat to both animal and human health . While the large RNA genome of CoVs shows relatively low mutation rates, recombination within genera is frequently observed . Companion animals are often overlooked in the transmission cycle of viral diseases; however, the close relationship of feline (FCoV) and canine CoV (CCoV) to human hCoV-229E as well as the susceptibility of these animals to SARS-CoV-2 , highlight their importance in potential transmission cycles. While recombination between CCoV and FCoV of a large fragment spanning orf1b to M has been previously described here we report the emergence of a highly pathogenic FCoV–CCoV recombinant responsible for a rapidly spreading outbreak of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) originating in Cyprus. The minor recombinant region, spanning spike (S), shows 96.5% sequence identity to the pantropic canine coronavirus NA/09. Infection has rapidly spread, infecting cats of all ages. Development of FIP appears to be very frequent and sequence identities of samples from cats in different districts of the island are strongly supportive of direct transmission. A near-cat-specific deletion in the domain 0 of S is present in more than 90% of cats with FIP. It is unclear as yet whether this deletion is directly associated with disease development, and it may be linked to a biotype switch. The domain 0 deletion and several amino acid changes in S, particularly the receptor-binding domain, indicate potential changes to receptor binding and cell tropism.
PB - Springer Nature
UR - https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/ae276b41-5105-48c0-a279-ce0ab8a52dc7
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER