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. 2020 Sep 8;12(9):1000.
doi: 10.3390/v12091000.

Prevalence of Feline Coronavirus Shedding in German Catteries and Associated Risk Factors

Ute Klein-Richers  1 , Katrin Hartmann  1 , Regina Hofmann-Lehmann  2 , Stefan Unterer  1 , Michèle Bergmann  1 , Anna Rieger  1 , Christian Leutenegger  3 , Nikola Pantchev  4 , Jörg Balzer  4 , Sandra Felten  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of Feline Coronavirus Shedding in German Catteries and Associated Risk Factors

Ute Klein-Richers et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

The aim of this prospective study was to determine prevalence and potential risk factors of feline coronavirus (FCoV) shedding. Four consecutive fecal samples of 179 cats from 37 German breeding catteries were analyzed for FCoV ribonucleic acid (RNA) by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Prevalence of shedding was calculated using different numbers of fecal samples per cat (1-4) and different sampling intervals (5-28 days). Information on potential risk factors for FCoV shedding was obtained by a questionnaire. Risk factor analysis was performed using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). Most cats (137/179, 76.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 69.8-82.2) shed FCoV at least at once. None of the tested 37 catteries was free of FCoV. Prevalence calculated including all four (76.5%, 95% CI 69.8-82.2) or the last three (73.7%, 95% CI 66.8-79.7) samples per cat was significantly higher than the prevalence calculated with only the last sample (61.5%, 95% CI 54.2-68.3; p = 0.0029 and 0.0175, respectively). Young age was significantly associated with FCoV shedding while the other factors were not. For identification of FCoV shedders in multi-cat households, at least three fecal samples per cat should be analyzed. Young age is the most important risk factor for FCoV shedding.

Keywords: fecal samples; feline coronavirus (FCoV); feline infectious peritonitis (FIP); hygiene management; infection; multi-cat household; real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); virus shedding.

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Conflict of interest statement

There is no commercial conflict of interest as the information generated here is solely for scientific dissemination. The authors declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. Christian Leutenegger was the Director of Molecular Diagnostics at IDEXX Laboratories at the time of the study, Nikola Pantchev and Jörg Balzer are employed at IDEXX Laboratories, Kornwestheim. This laboratory offers the FCoV RT-qPCR on a commercial basis and performed the testing in this study. IDEXX played no role in the study design, in the collection and interpretation of data, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. There is no commercial conflict of interest as the information generated here is solely for scientific dissemination. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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