Rat coronavirus, or RCV, is a strain or subspecies of ''

Murine coronavirus Murine coronavirus (M-CoV) is a virus in the genus ''Betacoronavirus'' that infects mice. Belonging to the subgenus ''Embecovirus'', murine coronavirus strains are enterotropic or polytropic. Enterotropic strains include mouse hepatitis virus (M ...

'' that infects rats. The earliest discovered strains of ''Rat coronavirus'' were Sialodacryoadenitis virus, also known as SDAV, and Parker's Rat Coronavirus (PRC). Four other substrains have since been discovered; CARS, RCV-BCMM, RCV-W and RCV-NJ.

Virology

The viral particles of RCV are irregular to round and about 120 to 160 nm in size. They cannot be distinguished morphologically from other members of the genus ''Coronavirus''.

Genome

The rat coronavirus is a single-stranded RNA virus with positive polarity that is approximately 27 to 33 kb long.

Substrains

Sialodacryoadenitis virus, or SDAV affects the

upper respiratory tract The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of respiration in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa. Air is breathed in through the nose to th ...

and can be transmitted between individuals by direct contact and indirectly by aerosol. It causes the disease Sialodacryoadenitis, the primary symptom of which are

tropism A tropism is a biological phenomenon, indicating growth or turning movement of a biological organism, usually a plant, in response to an environmental stimulus. In tropisms, this response is dependent on the direction of the stimulus (as oppos ...

of the salivary, lachrymal and

harderian gland The Harderian gland is a gland found within the eye's orbit that occurs in tetrapods (reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals) that possess a nictitating membrane. The gland can be compound tubular or compound tubuloalveolar, and the fluid it ...

s. Most infections are mild, but acute infections have high

morbidity A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

. It is spread among laboratory animals as well as in pets. Parker's rat coronavirus, or PRC and most other rat coronavirus strains cause

respiratory illness Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, br ...

. Both SDAV and PRC can cause lesions in the lungs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from3=Q2132904 Animal viral diseases Betacoronaviruses Rodent diseases