Niels C. Pedersen, DVM, PhD
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of California-Davis

"Current Prospects for Prevention and Treatment of Feline Infectious Peritonitis"
FIP has remained a major problem of cats for over five decades. We now understand where and how the virus that causes FIP mutates from the ubiquitous and otherwise innocuous feline coronavirus (FECV). However, we are only just beginning to untangle the complex virus, host and environmental factors that have the most effect on FIP incidence and how this knowledge can be applied to both disease prevention and cure.

Investigations on methods to prevent and cure FIP are in progress using specific classes of drugs. The most intriguing intervention to prevent disease may involve inhibition of a specific cytokine called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). Studies are proceeding with one common TNF-alpha inhibitor to see if it can stimulate protective rather than disease enhancing immunity. We have also completed both laboratory and field-testing of the first compound to inhibit FIPV replication. This drug, developed by our collaborators at Kansas State University and Wichita State University, belongs to a class known as protease inhibitors. These two approaches for FIP prevention using TNF-alpha inhibitors and cure using a feline coronavirus specific protease inhibitor will be presented.

Results from studies in our laboratory and elsewhere indicate that we have entered a new era in FIP preventions and treatment.