英国爱丁堡大学Christine Tait-Burkard课题组在研究中取得进展。他们的论文发现了重组冠状病毒引起的猫传染性腹膜炎。2025年7月9日出版的《自然》杂志发表了这项成果。

虽然先前已经描述了CCoV和FCoV之间跨越orf1b到M的大片段的重组，但在这里，课题组人员报告了一种新型的高致病性FCoV-CCoV重组病毒的出现，该病毒导致了起源于塞浦路斯的猫科动物感染性腹膜炎（FIP）的迅速传播。小重组区(S)与嗜性犬冠状病毒NA/09序列同源性为96.5%。感染迅速蔓延，感染了所有年龄段的猫。FIP的发展似乎非常频繁，岛上不同地区猫样本的序列鉴定强烈支持直接传播。在90%的FIP猫中存在S结构域0的几乎猫特异性缺失。目前尚不清楚这种缺失是否与疾病发展直接相关，并可能与生物型转换有关。结构域0的缺失和S中几个氨基酸的变化，特别是受体结合结构域，表明受体结合和细胞趋向性的潜在变化。

据了解，冠状病毒（CoV）的跨物种传播对动物和人类健康构成严重威胁。虽然冠状病毒的大RNA基因组显示出相对较低的突变率，但在属内经常观察到重组。在病毒性疾病的传播周期中，伴侣动物往往被忽视；然而，猫（FCoV）和犬（CCoV）与人类hCoV-229E的密切关系，以及它们对SARS-CoV-2的易感性，突出了它们在潜在传播周期中的重要性。

附：英文原文

Title: Feline infectious peritonitis epizootic caused by a recombinant coronavirus

Author: Attipa, Charalampos, Warr, Amanda S., Epaminondas, Demetris, OShea, 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

Issue&Volume: 2025-07-09

Abstract: Cross-species transmission of coronaviruses (CoVs) poses a serious threat to both animal and human health1-3. Whilst the large RNA genome of CoVs shows relatively low mutation rates, recombination within genera is frequently observed4-7. 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-229E5,8, as well as their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-29 highlight their importance in potential transmission cycles. Whilst recombination between CCoV and FCoV of a large fragment spanning orf1b to M has been previously described5,10, 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 Cyprus11. 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 switch12. 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.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09340-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09340-0