Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
SOCK IT TO FIP! SOCK FIP NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2011 Devon Rex Breed Club Contributes $8,300 to FIP Research at UC Davis To the Rescue – SOCK FIP and Cat Rescue Groups Our Gratitude to You and to the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation Dr. Pedersen’s Research Corner Veterinarians and Breeders in Denmark Contribute Essential DNA Samples Call For Samples! WINNing the FIP Fight: Veterinarians Reveal the Latest at Winn Feline Symposium SOCK FIP’s Tax-Exempt Status Granted SOCK FIP Ambassadors Around Town Check Out Our Award-Winning Website Join Us on Facebook Please help support SOCK FIP Devon Rex Breed Club Contributes $8,300 to FIP Research at UC Davis SOCK FIP would like to extend a huge, heartfelt thank you to the Devon Rex Breed Club (DRBC) for an extremely generous $8,300 donation to Dr. Pedersen’s research. The club’s fundraising efforts were led by SOCK FIP board member and DRBC President, Anita Henrikson (below, with Dr. Pedersen). The incredible generosity of the club members have helped us take another step closer to the day when we can say that we SOCKed it to FIP. Help us thank the members of the DRBC by going to their website: http://devonrexbreedclub.com/ 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 To the Rescue - SOCK FIP and Cat Rescue Rescue groups play an important role in this coalition of cat lovers, as they have unique opportunities to meet with the public regularly at adoption events as well as assist and counsel private owners/families who need help with medical issues for their feline family members. Through community aid programs and networking, rescue groups work along side compassionate veterinarians who serve large numbers of cats from a variety of different situations. They also have an ongoing opportunity to help educate veterinary clients on FIP and SOCK FIP efforts to support Dr. Pedersen’s Research. We encourage all rescue groups and their clients to help us fight and find a cure for this disease. There are several ways you can help : 1. Display our SOCK FIP newsletter and brochures at your vets’ offices and adoption sites 2. Ask clients to help distribute SOCK FIP brochures and materials to other cat lovers, especially those who have tragically lost a cat or kitten to FIP 3. Ask your veterinarian to participate in sending samples to Dr. Pedersen for his research project 4. Post the SOCKFIP website link on your own rescue website. Thank you! Together we WILL find answers to FIP! Our Gratitude to You and to the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation Thanks to your generosity and a wonderful matching grant from the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation, we had a very successful end of 2010 fundraising appeal, raising $13,429 for FIP research. We are very grateful to the foundation and to all who are able to support us in our efforts to help Dr. Pedersen and his colleagues at UC Davis find answers to FIP. For more information about the Max T. and Grace D. Morgan Foundation, please see the article on our website: http://www.sockfip.org/ news/ SOCK FIP Board Member Sally Morgan Welch and Dr. Niels\ C. Pedersen Dr. Pedersen’s Research Corner At our April 2011 board meeting, the SOCK FIP team had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Pedersen describe his research on feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which we want to share with you. There are four primary components of FIP research currently being conducted at UC Davis: 1. to study the genetics of the virus 2. to study the origins of FECVs in shelter environments and how different shelter environments and practices may influence the disease incidence 3. to screen human anti-retroviral compounds for cross-reactivity to FIP virus 4. to determine genetic polymorphisms that may be associated with resistance/susceptibility to FIP disease. The goal of the first component is to better understand the genetics of both the parent FECV and the mutant FIP virus, and how genetic differences in these two forms of virus affect their biologic properties (e.g., intestinal vs. macrophage tropism; virus shedding from the gut; infectivity). The second component involves a close collaboration with the San Francisco SPCA and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. We are studying the precise geographical origins of the FECVs that infect the shelter cats and whether the FIP viruses isolated from adopted cats dying of FIP can be traced back to the shelter, to where they came from before being taken into the shelter, or to contacts made after they were adopted. We are also looking for clues that will help us predict beforehand which cats are at most risk for developing FIP after adoption. The third component of our FIP research involves screening anti-retroviral compounds generated as part of the search for safe and highly efficacious anti-HIV and anti-hepatitis B virus drugs. We already know that the reverse transcriptases of retroviruses, hepadnaviruses, and coronaviruses have common features and that some anti-retroviral drugs used to combat HIV/AIDS possess activity against FIP virus. The goal is to identify those with the highest anti-coronavirus activity and the lowest cat toxicity in a cell culture system. Such compounds can be further modified to make them even more feline coronavirus specific, produced in large quantities, and tested in healthy cats for safety and in cats with FIP for efficacy. The fourth component of our study involves what is called a “whole genome association study” using the newly created Illumina high density SNP arrays. For this study, we need to study breeds of cats with a known FIP problem and breeders willing to cooperate in submitting buccal swabs and pedigrees with accurate disease histories. Three groups of cats will be studied: those who are affected by FIP, those who are related to cats affected by FIP, and those from breeding lines that have not seen FIP for three generations. (See article below regarding DNA Samples received from Denmark.) All these components of Dr. Pedersen’s research have implications for how we can control, prevent, and cure the disease in the future. While there are still many questions to be answered, Dr. Pedersen and his team have taken some great steps forward in understanding this terrible disease! Veterinarians and Breeders in Denmark Contribute Essential DNA Samples Dr. Pedersen is delighted to announce an important collaboration with Birman breeders in Denmark, and hopefully in Sweden as well. The Birman breed is popular in both countries and is known to suffer from FIP. The breed is also much inbred, making whole genome association studies more powerful. The fact that Birman cats suffer almost exclusively from dry FIP means that they have acquired some degree of genetic resistance to the FIP virus. This makes them an ideal breed to study. We have already acquired buccal swabs, complete three generation pedigrees, and disease histories from almost 400 Danish Birman cats and will hopefully get more from Denmark and an equal number from Swedish breeders. The response of the Danish Birman breeders has been extraordinary and we hope their efforts will pay off and genetic associations will be found with FIP resistance/susceptibility. If such associations can be found, the effort will be extended to samples that we have in our collection from other pure and random bred cats that have died from FIP. Call for Samples! The samples from Denmark are a wonderful start, but we need additional samples from any cats that have died from FIP, from pedigreed cats from the same bloodlines as FIP affected cats, and pedigreed cats that have no known relationship to an FIP affected cat for three generations. These DNA samples are easy for anyone to do. You can get the samples yourself by swabbing your cat’s cheek with a q-tip, letting the swab dry, putting it in an envelope with information about your cat, and sending it to UC Davis. Veterinarians can also help with UC Davis FIP studies through providing necropsy samples from cats who have died from FIP. ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL. For more information on how to take and submit your samples please visit our website at: http://www.sockfip.org/fip-studies.html Petunia, our SOCK FIP Spokes-Cat Carol Horace, SOCK FIP Board Member in a SOCK FIP Booth at a Show SOCK FIP Ambassadors Around Town SOCK FIP volunteers continue to try and help cat lovers and veterinarians better understand FIP and to spread the word about supporting FIP research at UC Davis. We will be at the CFA Annual in Reston, Virginia in June, and are looking at other upcoming shows and events for this year in California. We also would like to gratefully acknowledge the wonderful help of SOCK FIP Ambassadors including Julie Welch and Heather Mueller, who through booths at cat shows on the east coast are helping raise awareness for both SOCK FIP and the Winn Feline Foundation’s Bria Fund. If you have an event that might host a SOCK FIP booth, please contact us at [email protected] WINNing the FIP Fight: Veterinarians Reveal the Latest at the Winn Feline Symposium From the Winn Feline Foundation: “To announce new directions in FIP research, and actual successes, world renowned researchers Dr. Niels Pederson, director for the Center of Companion Animal Health at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis and Dr. Al Legendre, professor at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville headline the 2011 Winn Feline Foundation Symposium, WINNing the FIP Fight, June 23, at the Hyatt Regency Reston Town Center, Reston, Virginia. Proceeds benefit the Winn Feline Foundation Bria Fund, which provides funding for FIP research.” Several SOCK FIP board members will be attending the WINN Symposium in Reston, and we’ll have a report on the event in the next newsletter. To read the complete article, please go to Steve Dale’s Pet World website here. Share Our Newsletter/Join Our List Please feel free to forward our newsletter to your veterinarian or anyone who might be interested in learning more about FIP. Thank you! If you would like to be added to our mailing list, or if you are on our list and prefer not to receive updates from SOCK FIP, please email us at [email protected] PLEASE HELP US SOCK IT TO FIP! If you can help support Dr. Pedersen’s research, please contact us at [email protected], or visit our website at sockfip.org. You can also make a donation through PayPal by clicking here . The Center for Companion Animal Health (CCAH) at UC Davis SOCK FIP’s Tax-Exempt Status Granted The Board of Directors of SOCK FIP is delighted to announce that we have been granted tax-exempt 501(c) (3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. Please be assured that the funds we raise will continue to be directed toward Dr. Niels C. Pederson’s FIP research at the UC Davis Center for Companion Animal Health (CCAH). Having our own non-profit status will make it easier for SOCK FIP to conduct direct fundraising efforts to augment what is currently being done by the CCAH. Check Out Our Award Winning Website SOCK FIP Save Our Cats and Kittens from Feline Infectious Peritonitis a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt organization 685 W. Sunnyoaks Avenue Campbell, CA 95008 sockfip.me.com www.sockfip.org In October 2010, the SOCK FIP website received a Certificate of Excellence from the Cat Writers’ Association. Our team has worked very hard to make the website a valuable source for FIP information and support and we are excited about this honor! If you have not yet been to our award-winning website (or haven’t visited recently) please be sure to check it out at: www.sockfip.org Join Us on Facebook Are you active on Facebook? Please go to http:// www.facebook.com/sockfip and “like” our page to get the latest updates from SOCK FIP. We also have a cause at: http://www.causes.com/causes/281809 Dr. Niels C. Pedersen and Friends