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CAT CORONAVIRUS: A NEW VARIANT IS SPREADING IN CYPRUS
from BBC Science Focus Magazine
The new strain has killed thousands of felines on the island and at least one cat in the UK has been infected
You may have heard reports of a cat in the UK having been infected with a new coronavirus strain responsible for thousands of cat deaths in Cyprus.
Estimates of the number of cat deaths caused by this new virus range from about 8,000 to more than 300,000. In other words, it could be a real cause for concern.
Following the events of the past few years, we’re all too aware of the threat a new coronavirus strain can pose to humans – and it’s no different for other species. This new cat coronavirus strain appears to be both deadly and highly infectious, and could quickly take hold. So are we on the brink of the feline equivalent of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Before drawing parallels between the current outbreak in cats and the COVID-19 pandemic that surged through the human population, it’s worth zooming in to understand what has been happening to the virus on a molecular level.
Based on one study (yet to be peer-reviewed), it seems that an existing cat coronavirus has recombined with a dog coronavirus to create a completely new coronavirus. (The SARS-CoV-2 virus behind the pandemic also emerged from a recombination event.)
This recombination has led to a change on the cat coronavirus spike protein, the structure that enables it to enter host cells. This has made the virus not only more infectious, but also potentially able to cause more severe illness – a dangerous combination.
This new virus, designated F-CoV-23, can cause a severe disease called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). White blood cells become infected, causing symptoms including lethargy, diarrhoea, fluctuating fever, reduced appetite, weight loss and inflammation. Most infected cats will also develop the so-called ‘wet’ form of FIP. This causes a build-up of fluid inside an animal’s body, leading to a swollen abdomen or chest cavity, often resulting in breathing difficulties. Without treatment, FIP is almost always fatal.
Despite this dire prognosis, it’s important to be clear that this virus is distinct from SARS-CoV-2. There’s also no evidence that it can be transmitted to – or cause disease in – humans.
The good news is that infected cats seem to respond well to veterinary care, though effective treatments are expensive. An existing antiviral drug called GS-441524 seems to be safe and effective. In addition, human COVID-19 antivirals such as Remdesivir and Molnupiravir also seem to work in cats, although they aren’t currently licensed in the UK for veterinary use in cats.
While recognising that this is a potentially serious situation and that widespread infection could occur, there’s no need for panic right now. At the time of writing (late November), there’s no confirmation that this virus is present in the UK, beyond the single infected cat that is being treated.
There have been unconfirmed reports of numerous other cats in the UK with links to Cyprus that possibly have the disease, however. This is concerning, because these animals could have brought the disease to the UK.
As we know all too well, when it comes to the spread of coronavirus through a population, the situation can change very quickly. And once the virus takes hold, it can be very difficult to turn things around. We don’t know what may happen in the weeks to come, but there’s a real potential for this disease to spread beyond Cyprus to the UK and other countries across Europe.
If you want to understand how difficult it may be to bring this disease under control once it starts to spread, think about how challenging it was to persuade humans to follow rules introduced to limit the spread of COVID-19. Add cats into the equation, bearing in mind their unpredictable behaviour – roaming widely and socialising freely – and it’s not difficult to see how things could escalate very quickly.
At the moment, we’re still in the ‘monitor and stay alert’ phase. It’s not outside the realms of possibility that there are unusual drivers involved in the spread of this disease in Cyprus, with its large and genetically distinct population of feral cats.
It’s also possible that this coronavirus may not pose the same sort of threat to cat populations in the UK and other countries that don’t have the same number and density of feral cats. Pets are, of course, far more likely than feral cats to be taken to the vet and to receive treatment.
That’s not something we should rely on, however, and this is definitely a time when we should implement the precautionary principle. Bolstering the rationale for that approach, reports have emerged that the virus is now circulating in mainland Greece and Lebanon, though numbers of infections or deaths are difficult to determine.
Given these latest developments, calls from several commentators to ban the importation of cats to the UK from countries where this virus is circulating seem reasonable.
If you own a cat in the UK that becomes unwell, and if your cat hasn’t recently been to Cyprus or been in contact with a cat from Cyprus, your index of suspicion that it has FIP should be quite low at the moment. In other words, it’s very unlikely to be infected with this new coronavirus.
Watch this space closely, though. Once again, we may find ourselves waiting for vaccines to be developed to save us – or, in this case, our cats – from a deadly disease.
by PROF HASSAN VALLY
Hassan is an epidemiologist based at Deakin University, Australia, where he investigates responses to disease outbreaks and epidemics.
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