Feline Infectious Peritonitis
Revision as of 21:54, 16 October 2008 by Bepocock (talk | contribs) (New page: {{unfinished}} {{toplink |linkpage =Viruses |linktext =VIRUSES |sublink1=Coronaviridae |subtext1=CORONAVIRUSES |pagetype =Bugs }} <br> ====Antigenicity==== *FIP occurs in 5-10% of cats i...)
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Antigenicity
- FIP occurs in 5-10% of cats infected with Feline Enteric Coronavirus (FECoV), which is quite common
- It is therefore antigenically indistinguishable from FECoV
Hosts
- Domestic and wild cats
Pathogenesis
- FECoV may cause mild respiratory symptoms and diarrhoea but is often asymptomatic
- Weeks, months or years may intervene between localized primary FECoV infection and FIP development
- FIP gains ability to replicate in monocytes and macrophages
- FECoV replicates in the gut, but FIP spreads systemically in the circulation
- Almost invariably fatal
- Failure of the immune system to clear antibody-antigen complexes leads to immune-mediated disease
- Deposited complexes cause inflammation and exudation
- This leads to characteristic oedema as fibrin-rich serum escapes to intercellular spaces
- For more, see here
Epidemiology
Diagnosis
- Serology is impossible as most cats will have antibody to FECoV