Prevalence of feline coronavirus in two cat populations in Malaysia

Abstract

The prevalence of feline coronavirus (FCoV) was studied in two catteries in Malaysia. Rectal swabs or faecal samples were collected from a total of 44 clinically healthy Persian purebred and mix-breed cats. RNA extracted from the faecal material was subjected to a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers flanking for a conserved region of the virus genome. The overall prevalence of FCoV infection was 84% and the infection rate was higher in Persian purebred cats (96%) than mix-breed cats (70%). There was no significant association between the age or gender of tested cats and shedding the virus. This study is the first PCR-based survey for FCoV in Malaysia and showed the ubiquitous presence of FCoV in Malaysian cat colonies.

Circulation and genetic diversity of Feline coronavirus type I andIIfrom clinically healthy andFIP‐suspected cats in China

“…In our study, the prevalence of FCoV was not significantly associated with sex, which is in agreement with several studies (Bell et al., ; Sharif et al., ; Taharaguchi, Soma, & Hara, ). On the contrary, several studies have shown that FCoV infection appeared to be significantly correlated with the male sex (Pesteanu‐Somogyi, Radzai, & Pressler, ; Worthing et al., ).…”

“…The FCoV positive rate of cats from south China (80.0%) was higher than that of north China (73.1%). Several studies have reported that age, breed, sex, and a multi‐cat environment are associated with FCoV infection and development of FIP (Addie et al., ; Bell, Malik, & Norris, ; Sharif et al., ; Worthing et al., ). In the present study, FCoV infection was significantly associated with living environment and age, which is in line with previous studies (Addie et al., ; Drechsler, Alcaraz, Bossong, Collisson, & Diniz, ; Tekelioglu et al., ); the positive rate of FCoV in a multi‐cat environment was higher than that in single cat households.…”

“…In Australia, FCoV infection occurred at a significantly higher prevalence in British Shorthairs, Cornish Rex and Burmese cats than in Siamese, Persian, Domestic Shorthairs, and Bengal cats (Bell et al., ). In Malaysia, the FCoV infection rate in Persian purebred cats (96.0%) was higher than that in the mixed‐breed cats (70.0%) (Sharif et al., ). In Japan, the prevalence of antibodies against FCoV in purebred cats (66.7%) was higher than that in random breeds (31.2%) (Taharaguchi et al., ).…”

“…Other studies have reported that cats of ages ranging from 3 to 11 months exhibit a higher FCoV prevalence than those of other ages (Bell et al., ; Pedersen, ; Taharaguchi et al., ). However, FCoV infection in Australia and Malaysia was reported not to be associated with age (Bell et al., ; Sharif et al., ). These data suggest that the biological reason underlying the age/sex/breed‐associated susceptibility and resistance to FCoV remains unknown and is associated with different lifestyles and FCoV exposure in different studies.…”

A retrospective clinical and epidemiological study on feline coronavirus (FCoV) in cats in Istanbul, Turkey

“…Worldwide the prevalence of FCoV infections may be up to 90% in multi-cat environments and 10-60% in household cats (Herrewegh et al, 1997;Pedersen et al, 2004;Bell et al, 2006;Addie et al, 2009;Sharif et al, 2009;Taharaguchi et al, 2012). Detection of FCoV antibodies in the early stage of infection can be useful to minimize the spread of FCoVs in a breeding cattery, multi-cat household and FCoV-free household (Cave et al, 2004;Dye et al, 2008;Drechsler et al, 2011).…”