Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Veterinärstraße 13, 80539 Munich, Germany.
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., 2825 KOVR Dr., West Sacramento, CA 95605, USA.
Viruses. 2022 Apr 21;14(5):858. doi: 10.3390/v14050858.
(1) Background: Feline coronavirus infection (FCoV) is common in multi-cat environments. A role of FCoV in causing diarrhea is often assumed, but has not been proven. The aim of this study was to evaluate an association of FCoV infection with diarrhea in multi-cat environments. (2) Methods: The study included 234 cats from 37 catteries. Fecal samples were analyzed for FCoV RNA by reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Potential co-infections were determined by applying a qPCR panel on different potential enteropathogens and fecal flotation. A fecal scoring system was used to categorize feces as diarrheic or non-diarrheic. (3) Results: Of the 234 cats included, 23 had diarrhea. The prevalence of FCoV infection was 87.0% in cats with and 58.8% in cats without diarrhea. FCoV infection was significantly associated with diarrhea (Odds Ratio (OR) 5.01; = 0.008). In addition, presence of α toxin (OR 6.93; = 0.032) and feline panleukopenia virus (OR 13.74; = 0.004) were associated with an increased risk of diarrhea. There was no correlation between FCoV load and fecal score. FCoV-positive cats with co-infections were not more likely to have diarrhea than FCoV-positive cats without co-infections ( = 0.455). (4) Conclusions: FCoV infection is common in cats from catteries and can be associated with diarrhea.
(1) 背景：猫冠状病毒感染（FCoV）在多猫环境中很常见。通常认为 FCoV 是引起腹泻的原因之一，但尚未得到证实。本研究旨在评估多猫环境中 FCoV 感染与腹泻之间的关系。(2) 方法：本研究纳入了 37 家饲养场的 234 只猫。通过逆转录定量聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）分析粪便样本中的 FCoV RNA。应用 qPCR 面板对不同的潜在肠道病原体和粪便漂浮物进行检测，以确定潜在的合并感染。采用粪便评分系统将粪便分为腹泻型或非腹泻型。(3) 结果：在纳入的 234 只猫中，有 23 只出现腹泻。腹泻猫的 FCoV 感染率为 87.0%，无腹泻猫的感染率为 58.8%。FCoV 感染与腹泻显著相关（优势比（OR）5.01； = 0.008）。此外，α毒素（OR 6.93； = 0.032）和猫泛白细胞减少症病毒（OR 13.74； = 0.004）的存在与腹泻风险增加相关。FCoV 载量与粪便评分之间无相关性。合并感染的 FCoV 阳性猫与无合并感染的 FCoV 阳性猫发生腹泻的可能性没有差异（ = 0.455）。(4) 结论：饲养场的猫中 FCoV 感染很常见，可能与腹泻有关。
