Some of you may have seen the article in the Telegraph on 11th July regarding an outbreak of Feline Infectious Peritonitis(FIP) caused by a new strain of Feline Coronavirus on the island of Cyprus. This started in January and has spread within the island. In the UK, FIP does not normally behave like an infectious disease and most cases are isolated incidents. However, in this outbreak affected cats are highly infectious and the disease spreads rapidly once the virus enters a group or colony.
The article speculates on the infection coming to the UK and other parts of Europe. DEFRA have been contacted and are aware but at present there seem to be no plans to prevent cats from Cyprus entering this country, although GCCF and other organisations on the Canine & Feline Sector Group are pressing for them to reconsider.
In the meantime, GCCF is advising people going there on holiday from the UK not to adopt rescue cats from Cyprus at the moment, to avoid/minimise contact with cats on the island, avoid contact with cat faeces and clean/disinfect thoroughly any item where this has occurred. Anyone returning from a holiday in Cyprus should also thoroughly clean and disinfect the soles of their shoes (or change them to a clean pair) before entering their home just in case of any faecal contamination. The likely risk of indirect transmission by fomites without faecal contamination is very low but this is based on the assumption that the environmental viability is the same as other Feline Coronaviruses as the new strain has not been specifically tested for this feature.
If we receive any additional information, we will share it on this website.
