Positive result: In the presence of highly proteinaceous content, fibrin, and inflammatory mediators, which are common to FIP effusions, the drop precipitates—retaining its shape and staying at the fluid surface or slowly sinking. J Am Vet Med Assoc. As with other coronaviruses, the large genome sequence of FCoV 26—32 kb is prone to high rates of mutation and subject to considerable genetic variability owing to the high error rate and lack of proofreading ability of RNA polymerase, rapid and continuous replication, genome recombination as a result of template switching, and reassortment of segmented RNA genomes. The wet and dry FIP forms are not strictly separate clinical entities. Definitive diagnosis of FIP historically has relied on histopathologic findings—usually, the detection of intracellular FCoV antigen associated with macrophages within lesions by immunohistochemistry or immunocytochemistry.
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