Researchers hope to protect against deadly cat virus

A new vaccine could help protect cats from feline infectious peritonitis, a dangerous and fatal disease.

The vaccine, in development at Colorado State University, wouldn’t address FIP directly. Rather, it would protect cats against feline enteric coronavirus, a much more common virus that can mutate into FIP.

If successful, the vaccine can control the contagious coronavirus in shelters and other multi-cat environments while also protecting individual cats against FIP, according to an announcement from Morris Animal Foundation, which is funding the research.

“For years, we have tried, unsuccessfully, to vaccinate against FIP, but we may have been targeting the wrong point in time,” said Dr. Gregg Dean, a professor in CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Our strategy now is to eliminate [feline enteric coronavirus], the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll form, if you will, before it can become the deadly Mr. Hyde.”

Feline enteric coronavirus is a common intestinal virus that most cats are exposed to and infected by at some point in their life, according to Morris Animal Foundation. It’s highly contagious and spreads easily through saliva or feces. Very few cats show any symptoms, and most recover easily.

But the virus can randomly mutate and cause FIP, a deadly infectious disease that affects multiple organs. Symptoms include fever, weight loss and lethargy, and inflammation of the blood vessels. While only an estimated 5-10% of infected cats develop FIP, it’s 100% fatal, difficult to diagnose, and has no currently available treatments.

“We’ve had remarkable success in addressing many other infectious diseases in cats, but FIP is one notable exception and it can be particularly devastating as it claims them so young,” Dr. Janet Patterson-Kane, chief scientific officer at Morris, said in the announcement. “If we can control the disease in large groups of cats, that would be a wonderful thing.”

The research team’s vaccine design will include the bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, a probiotic found in foods like yogurt and cheese and present in many animals’ gastrointestinal tracts. It will deliver specific coronavirus proteins to naturally stimulate cats’ immune systems to protect against infection by the virus.