Assessing Genetic Risk in Feline Infectious Peritonitis

Presentation Description / Summary: Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is a contagious virus ubiquitous in most cat populations. In a small percentage of infected cats, an aberrant immune response to FCoV and change in tropism of the virus, allowing it to infect and replicate in macrophages, results in Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), which is fatal without anti-viral therapy (e.g. remdesivir). FIP pathogenesis is complex, and it is unclear why some cats develop FIP, while others do not. Some breeds more commonly develop FIP, suggesting a genetic component to host susceptibility. Although treatment options have improved significantly in recent years, parallels between FIP and COVID-19 make FIP a particularly important veterinary disease in which to study coronavirus host susceptibility. Data will be presented from the MASCOT (Mapping Animal Susceptibility to Coronaviruses: Outcomes and Transcriptomics) consortium relating to whole genome sequencing and follow-up genotyping of cats with and without FIP. This will highlight host genetic variants that appear to be important in FIP susceptibility. In addition, the concept of polygenic risk scores for predicting risk of complex diseases will also be discussed, as well the potential role for the feline MHC and variation in virus sequence in FIP risk.