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Review
. 2020 Sep 13;12(9):1023.
doi: 10.3390/v12091023.

Coronavirus Infections in Companion Animals: Virology, Epidemiology, Clinical and Pathologic Features

Christine Haake  1 , Sarah Cook  2 , Nicola Pusterla  3 , Brian Murphy  4
Affiliations
Review

Coronavirus Infections in Companion Animals: Virology, Epidemiology, Clinical and Pathologic Features

Christine Haake et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Coronaviruses are enveloped RNA viruses capable of causing respiratory, enteric, or systemic diseases in a variety of mammalian hosts that vary in clinical severity from subclinical to fatal. The host range and tissue tropism are largely determined by the coronaviral spike protein, which initiates cellular infection by promoting fusion of the viral and host cell membranes. Companion animal coronaviruses responsible for causing enteric infection include feline enteric coronavirus, ferret enteric coronavirus, canine enteric coronavirus, equine coronavirus, and alpaca enteric coronavirus, while canine respiratory coronavirus and alpaca respiratory coronavirus result in respiratory infection. Ferret systemic coronavirus and feline infectious peritonitis virus, a mutated feline enteric coronavirus, can lead to lethal immuno-inflammatory systemic disease. Recent human viral pandemics, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and most recently, COVID-19, all thought to originate from bat coronaviruses, demonstrate the zoonotic potential of coronaviruses and their potential to have devastating impacts. A better understanding of the coronaviruses of companion animals, their capacity for cross-species transmission, and the sharing of genetic information may facilitate improved prevention and control strategies for future emerging zoonotic coronaviruses. This article reviews the clinical, epidemiologic, virologic, and pathologic characteristics of nine important coronaviruses of companion animals.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS Virus; canine; coronavirus; feline infectious peritonitis; ferrets; spike glycoproteins; zoonoses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogenetic relationships of coronaviruses of companion animals. The 3′ portions of the coronaviral genomes encoding the spike and other non-structural proteins (~9 kb) were compared and plotted as a “guide tree” using MacVector software (ClustalW Multiple Sequence Alignment). Betacoronavirus sequences are highlighted in yellow, while alphacoronavirus sequences are highlighted in blue; the zoonotic SARS CoV-2 coronavirus is surrounded by a red box. GenBank submission numbers are indicated for each sequence.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Coronavirus structural proteins.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Gross image of “wet” or effusive feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), thoracic and abdominal cavities, cat. Abundant semi-translucent “straw-colored”, proteinaceous peritoneal effusion with fibrinous and granulomatous serositis and multifocal granulomatous lesions in the liver. Gross image courtesy of Chrissy Eckstrand. (B) FIP, urinary bladder serosal surface, cat, hematoxylin and eosin (HE). Severe, necrotizing, pyogranulomatous and lymphoplasmacytic serositis and vasculitis. (C) FIP, urinary bladder serosal surface, cat, FCoV immunohistochemistry. Same lesion tissue as 3b with frequent, positive immunoreactivity for FCoV antigen (brown pigment).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Gross lesions associated with ferret systemic coronavirus (FRSCV). (A) Ferret, coronavirus-associated granulomatous mesenteritis. Numerous, multifocal to coalescing, pale tan, firm nodular masses (granulomas) distributed throughout the mesentery, often corresponding to vasculature. (B) Ferret, coronavirus-associated serositis and splenitis. Numerous, multifocal to coalescing, pale tan nodules (granulomas) expanding the serosa with variable parenchymal involvement. (C) Ferret, coronavirus-associated hepatitis. Multifocal, pale tan, expansile nodular masses throughout the liver. (D) Ferret, coronavirus-associated peritonitis. Multifocal to coalescing, pale tan, nodular masses (granulomas) throughout the peritoneum. All images courtesy of Jordi Jimenez.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Equine coronavirus-associated colitis, colon, horse. Moderate, necrohemorrhagic colitis. Image courtesy of Silvia Siso. (B) Equine coronavirus-associated enteritis, jejunum, horse. Mixed inflammatory enteritis with crypt ectasia and necrosis (crypt “abscesses”) and microvascular thrombi. (C) Equine coronavirus-associated enteritis, jejunum, horse. Diffuse immunoreactivity at the tips of necrotic villi using bovine coronavirus antiserum (immunohistochemistry). Figure 5B,C courtesy of Federico Giannitti.
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