Original article: UC Davis has a long history of studying feline infectious peritonitis
Research into feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) at UC Davis began in 1964 with Dr. Niels Pedersen, who was a veterinary student at the time, and Dr. Billy Ward, a graduate of veterinary pathology at the time. Pedersen later became Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Founding Director of CCAH.
Ward and Pedersen published their research on the FIP in 1969. Pedersen was also interested in the disease during his internship at Colorado State University and his doctoral studies at the National University of Australia. He continued his research on FIP and other feline infectious diseases after returning to UC Davis and the Veterinary School in 1972. The FIP research program is still active at UC.
Pedersen is a world-renowned authority in the field of FIP and has 45 important scientific articles and a number of chapters and reviews in the veterinary literature. His textbook "Cat breeding, diseases and management in a multi-cat environment" is still considered a classic among breeders. Pedersen retired in 2013, but continues to pursue an active FIP research program as Professor Emeritus. Current research continues to focus on how FIPV causes the disease itself, the genetic and environmental factors that affect the incidence of the disease, and most recently on the use of specific drugs to target FIPV replication in cats.
Pedersen is fortunate to have had the support of private organizations such as the Winn Feline Foundation, the Morris Animal Foundation, Save Our Cats and Kittens (SOCK) and SOCK FIP, private foundations and purebred cat registries, and many individual donors. “As my career draws to a close, I am delighted to be joined by my colleagues, including Dr. Brian Murphy and Dr. Patty Pesavento, who continue to uphold the School of Veterinary Medicine’s reputation as one of the leading research groups on feline coronavirus infections such as FECV and FIPV,” says Pedersen. “We all agree that FIP is one of the most complex infectious diseases of humans and animals.” Fortunately, Pedersen’s more than half a century of research has helped unravel much of this complex puzzle.
Many key discoveries about FIP come from our school and Pedersen's laboratory, including the first coronary virus spread in tissue culture, recognition of its relationship to common coronaviruses of other species, development of an antibody test for feline coronavirus, and the discovery that FIP virus (FIPV) is an unusual mutation. and mostly non-pathogenic feline enteric coronavirus (FECV). Attempts to develop vaccines against the disease have failed, leading to a study of how to reduce the incidence of the disease in kennels, shelters and other high-risk environments through preventive measures in cat breeding. Dr. Pedersen has also completed several studies on the role of hereditary factors in predisposing to FIP. Genetic susceptibility and resistance have been found to be very complex, and attempts to increase resistance by selectively breeding naturally immune females and males have led to increased rather than decreased susceptibility. Kinship crosses have been identified as a major hereditary risk factor.
FIP survivors
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