Message Number: FHL14392 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Sukie Crandall
Date: 2011-12-01 20:26:28 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] coronaviruses
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>

I needed to put this together for someone on the FML for tomorrow so am copying it here to help others, too:

> What ferrets get presents similarly to FIP so looks like it, but genetic work has shown that the coronavirus involved is far more closely related to ECE, a known ferret coronavirus.
>
> For those who want to learn more here are some great ways to start:
>
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL11042
>
> This post below is very helpful because it shows the distinction between a general coronavirus staining test which is pretty readily available (BUT which can NOT tell ferret coronavirus from FIP from SARS from…, but instead only says that the disease is some type of coronavirus) and the type of testing that can be done at MSU which actually distinguishes among the types of coronavirii:
>
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9546
>
> Personally, I HATE the term "FIP-like" because it makes some people think the disease is FIP, and because it is too easy to have a typo and leave out the "-like" portion which some people have afterward kicked themselves about doing, including vets . The strength of the term is that it reminds people what it looks like in symptoms and appearance, like dry FIP even though the cause is not FIP.
>
> Not being able to tell the types apart has lead to some people assuming that dry FIP was present in ferrets just because the systemic coronavirus they get acts like that even though it is not that, and that sort of confusion actually messed up some early SARS research because some human health researchers did not know about the existence of ECE in ferrets and FIP in cats and wound up using the general tests but then could not figure out WHY they were not seeing the SARS type of lung damage (what they saw were the types of damage consistent with ECE in the ferrets and with FIP in some cats). Well, duh! Even though cats can get SARS pretty easily from food items, and there have been some cases in dogs that way, too, as well as directly infected ferrets, cats, and dogs used in SARS research, a few early researchers turned out to most likely be looking at ferrets with ECE and cats with FIP in some of the studies because they did not do specific enough coronavirus type testing.
>
> in
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
>
> see these and links to abstracts
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Publications.php
>
> and among the MANY studies done there to help ferrets (and which can ALWAYS use donations to continue) there are these:
>
> BEGIN QUOTED ABSTRACTS
> Vet Pathol. 2008 Mar;45(2):236-46.
> Clinicopathologic features of a systemic coronavirus-associated disease resembling feline infectious peritonitis in the domestic ferret (Mustela putorius).
> Garner MM, Ramsell K, Morera N, Juan-Sallés C, Jiménez J, Ardiaca M, Montesinos A, Teifke JP, Löhr CV, Evermann JF, Baszler TV, Nordhausen RW, Wise AG,Maes RK, Kiupel M.
> Source
> Northwest ZooPath, 654 W. Main, Monroe, WA 98296, USA.
> Erratum in
> • Vet Pathol. 2008 Jul;45(4):598.
> Abstract
> From 2002 to 2007, 23 ferrets from Europe and the United States were diagnosed with systemic pyogranulomatous inflammation resembling feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). The average age at the time of diagnosis was 11 months. The disease was progressive in all cases, and average duration of clinical illness was 67 days. Common clinical findings were anorexia, weight loss, diarrhea, and large, palpable intra-abdominal masses; less frequent findings included hind limb paresis, central nervous system signs, vomiting, and dyspnea. Frequent hematologic findings were mild anemia, thrombocytopenia, and hypergammaglobulinemia. Grossly, whitish nodules were found in numerous tissues, most frequently the mesenteric adipose tissue and lymph nodes, visceral peritoneum, liver, kidneys, spleen, and lungs. One ferret had a serous abdominal effusion. Microscopically, pyogranulomatous inflammation involved especially the visceral peritoneum, mesenteric adipose tissue, liver, lungs, kidneys, lymph nodes, spleen, pancreas, adrenal glands, and/or blood vessels. Immunohistochemically, all cases were positive for coronavirus antigen using monoclonal antibody FIPV3-70. Electron microscopic examination of inflammatory lesions identified particles with coronavirus morphology in the cytoplasm of macrophages. Partial sequencing of the coronavirus spike gene obtained from frozen tissue indicates that the virus is related to ferret enteric coronavirus.
>
> PMID: 18424841 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
>
> Virus Res. 2010 Apr;149(1):42-50. Epub 2010 Jan 15.
> Comparative sequence analysis of the distal one-third of the genomes of a systemic and an enteric ferret coronavirus.
> Wise AG, Kiupel M, Garner MM, Clark AK, Maes RK.
> Source
> Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, 4125 Beaumont Road, Lansing, MI 48909, USA.
> Abstract
> Ferret systemic coronavirus (FRSCV) infection is associated with an emerging, highly fatal disease of ferrets. Enhanced macrophage tropism and the resulting induction of pyogranulomatous lesions are shared with feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) infection in cats, but are not features of ferret enteric coronavirus (FRECV) infection. Comparative sequence analysis of the distal one-third of the genomes of one FRSCV and one FRECV strain showed that these two ferret coronaviruses share >96% nucleotide sequence identities in the membrane (M), nucleocapsid (N) and non-structural protein genes (partial polymerase, open reading frames [ORFs] 3 and 7b). The envelope (E) protein gene showed a moderate nucleotide sequence similarity of 91.6%. In contrast, nucleotide and amino acid sequence similarities observed with the spike (S) protein were only 79.5 and 79.6%, respectively. Twenty-one amino acid differences within a 195-199-amino acid C-terminal portion of the S protein were conserved between 3 strains each of FRSCV and FRECV. Both systemic and enteric strains were found to carry a single ORF 3 gene with truncated proteins observed in two out of three FRSCV strains examined. The two enteric strains analyzed each contained an intact ORF 3 gene. Phylogenetically, FRSCV is more closely related to FRECV than to other group 1 coronaviruses.
>
> Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
>
> PMID: 20079778 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
>
> Ferret coronavirus-associated diseases.
> Murray J, Kiupel M, Maes RK.Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2010 Sep;13(3):543-60. Review.
> A novel coronavirus of ferrets was first described in 1993. This coronavirus caused an enteric disease called epizootic catarrhal enteritis (ECE). Recently, a ferret systemic coronavirus (FRSCV)-associated disease was discovered. This new systemic disease resembles the dry form of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and has been reported in the United States and Europe. This article addresses the clinical signs, pathology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this ferret FIP-like disease.
>
> END QUOTED ABSTRACTS
>
> also see these:
>
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Enteric_and_Systemic_Coronavirus_Infections_in_Ferrets.pdf
>
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Ferret_Coronaviruses.pdf
>
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Development_of_Molecular_Diagnostic_Tests_for_ECE.pdf
>
> from
>
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/
>
> AND also (Okay, redundant…) see
> http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Diseases/Gastrointestinal.pdf
>
> scroll down about 2/5ths of the way and the sections on coronaviruses will begin with the older enteric form and then go into the new systemic form.


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