Attipa Charalampos, Warr Amanda S, Epaminondas Demetris, O'Shea Marie, Hanton Andrew J, Fletcher Sarah, Malbon Alexandra, Lyraki Maria, Hammond Rachael, Hardas Alexandros, Zanti Antria, Loukaidou Stavroula, Gentil Michaela, Gunn-Moore Danielle, Lycett Samantha J, Mazeri Stella, Tait-Burkard Christine
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian, United Kingdom.
The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian, United Kingdom.
Nature. 2025 Jul 9. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09340-0.
Cross-species transmission of coronaviruses (CoVs) poses a serious threat to both animal and human health. Whilst the large RNA genome of CoVs shows relatively low mutation rates, recombination within genera is frequently observed. Companion animals are often overlooked in the transmission cycle of viral diseases; however, the close relationship of feline (FCoV) and canine CoV (CCoV) to human hCoV-229E, as well as their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 highlight their importance in potential transmission cycles. Whilst recombination between CCoV and FCoV of a large fragment spanning orf1b to M has been previously described, here we report the emergence of a novel, highly pathogenic FCoV-CCoV recombinant responsible for a rapidly spreading outbreak of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), originating in Cyprus. The minor recombinant region, spanning spike (S), shows 96.5% sequence identity to the pantropic canine coronavirus NA/09. Infection has rapidly spread, infecting cats of all ages. Development of FIP appears very frequent and sequence identities of samples from cats in different districts of the island is strongly supportive of direct transmission. A near cat-specific deletion in the domain 0 of S is present in >90% of FIP cats. It is unclear as yet whether this deletion is directly associated with disease development and may be linked to a biotype switch. The domain 0 deletion and several amino acid changes in S, particularly the receptor binding domain, indicate potential changes to receptor binding and cell tropism.
冠状病毒（CoV）的跨物种传播对动物和人类健康都构成了严重威胁。虽然CoV的大RNA基因组显示出相对较低的突变率，但属内重组现象却经常被观察到。伴侣动物在病毒性疾病的传播循环中常常被忽视；然而，猫冠状病毒（FCoV）和犬冠状病毒（CCoV）与人类hCoV - 229E的密切关系，以及它们对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的易感性，凸显了它们在潜在传播循环中的重要性。虽然此前已有关于CCoV和FCoV之间跨越orf1b到M的大片段重组的描述，但在此我们报告了一种新型高致病性FCoV-CCoV重组病毒的出现，该病毒导致了起源于塞浦路斯的猫传染性腹膜炎（FIP）迅速传播的疫情。跨越刺突蛋白（S）的较小重组区域与泛嗜性犬冠状病毒NA/09的序列同一性为96.5%。感染迅速传播，感染了所有年龄段的猫。FIP的发展似乎非常频繁，该岛不同地区猫的样本序列同一性有力地支持了直接传播。超过90%的FIP猫在S蛋白的结构域0中存在近乎猫特异性的缺失。目前尚不清楚这种缺失是否与疾病发展直接相关，可能与生物型转换有关。结构域0的缺失以及S蛋白中的几个氨基酸变化，特别是受体结合结构域的变化，表明受体结合和细胞嗜性可能发生了改变。
