<p>A fatal strain of feline coronavirus isolated from a cat in eastern China has been fully characterized by a research team that sequenced its genome and tested its ability to cause disease in young cats. The strain, designated AH2023, belongs to type II feline coronavirus (FCoV-II), the less common of the two viral genotypes that infect domestic cats. According to the study published in Animal Diseases, all cats experimentally infected with the isolate died of feline infectious peritonitis within roughly two and a half weeks of exposure, underscoring the pathogenic potential of this understudied viral group.</p><p>Feline coronavirus is one of the most widespread viral pathogens of cats worldwide. In most infected animals it produces only mild, self-limiting enteritis. In some cases, however, the virus mutates into a highly virulent form that triggers feline infectious peritonitis, a fatal systemic disease marked by granulomatous inflammation and fluid accumulation in body cavities. Without appropriate treatment, feline infectious peritonitis is nearly 100 percent fatal, and cats under two years of age are particularly susceptible. The disease appears in two main forms: an effusive or wet form characterized by serositis and effusions, and a noneffusive or dry form that frequently involves the central nervous system and produces neurological and ocular signs. Recent reports hav