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Circulation and genetic diversity of Feline coronavirus type I and II from clinically healthy and FIP ‐suspected cats in China
Author(s) -
Li Chunqiu,
Liu Qiujin,
Kong Fanzhi,
Guo Donghua,
Zhai Junjun,
Su Mingjun,
Sun Dongbo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
transboundary and emerging diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.392
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1865-1682
pISSN - 1865-1674
DOI - 10.1111/tbed.13081
Subject(s) - cats , coronavirus , covid-19 , virology , genetic diversity , diversity (politics) , biology , circulation (fluid dynamics) , immunology , medicine , outbreak , environmental health , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , population , physics , sociology , anthropology , thermodynamics
Feline infectious peritonitis ( FIP ) is a fatal infectious disease of wild and domestic cats, and the occurrence of FIP is frequently reported in China. To trace the evolution of type I and II feline coronavirus in China, 115 samples of ascetic fluid from FIP ‐suspected cats and 54 fecal samples from clinically healthy cats were collected from veterinary hospitals in China. The presence of FC oV in the samples was detected by RT ‐ PCR targeting the 6b gene. The results revealed that a total of 126 (74.6%, 126/169) samples were positive for FC oV: 75.7% (87/115) of the FIP ‐suspected samples were positive for FC oV, and 72.2% (39/54) of the clinically healthy samples were positive for FC oV. Of the 126 FC oV‐positive samples, 95 partial S genes were successfully sequenced. The partial S gene‐based genotyping indicated that type I FC oV and type II FC oV accounted for 95.8% (91/95) and 4.2% (4/95), respectively. The partial S gene‐based phylogenetic analyses showed that the 91 type I FC oV strains exhibited genetic diversity; the four type II FC oV strains exhibited a close relationship with type II FC oV strains from Taiwan. Three type I FC oV strains, HLJ / HRB /2016/10, HLJ / HRB /2016/11 and HLJ / HRB /2016/13, formed one potential new clade in the nearly complete genome‐based phylogenetic trees. Further analysis revealed that FC oV infection appeared to be significantly correlated with a multi‐cat environment ( p < 0.01) and with age ( p < 0.01). The S gene of the three type I FC oV strains identified in China, BJ /2017/27, BJ /2018/22 and XM /2018/04, exhibited a six nucleotide deletion (C 4035 AGCTC 4040 ). Our data provide evidence that type I and type II FC oV strains co‐circulate in the FIP ‐affected cats in China. Type I FC oV strains exhibited high prevalence and genetic diversity in both FIP ‐affected cats and clinically healthy cats, and a multi‐cat environment and age (<6 months) were significantly associated with FC oV infection.