Pathogenesis of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) - the infection of the monocyte

The key event in the development of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is the infection of the monocyte (a white blood cell) by feline coronavirus (FCoV). From the moment of infection of the monocyte, the cat’s fate hangs on whether or not that monocyte can contain the virus and eventually defeat it, or whether the virus wins, and begins replicating within the monocyte. In this animation, we depict the latter. We show how the virus hijacks the immune system, leading to an inflammatory sequence of events