Prevalence of feline coronavirus in two cat populations in Malaysia

• Main Authors: Sharif, Saeed, Arshad, Siti Suri, Bejo, Mohd Hair, Omar, Abdul Rahman, Allaudin, Zeenathul Nazariah, Ismail, Mohd Afzal Hafidz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2009
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6468/1/Prevalence%20of%20feline%20coronavirus%20in%20two%20cat%20populations%20in%20Malaysia.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6468/; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1016/j.jfms.2009.08.005
• Institution: Universiti Putra Malaysia

The prevalence of feline coronavirus (FCoV) was studied in two catteries in Malaysia. Rectal swabs or faecal samples were collected from a total of 44 clinically healthy Persian purebred and mix-breed cats. RNA extracted from the faecal material was subjected to a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers flanking for a conserved region of the virus genome. The overall prevalence of FCoV infection was 84% and the infection rate was higher in Persian purebred cats (96%) than mix-breed cats (70%). There was no significant association between the age or gender of tested cats and shedding the virus. This study is the first PCR-based survey for FCoV in Malaysia and showed the ubiquitous presence of FCoV in Malaysian cat colonies.