• Typical coronavirus containing single stranded RNA and three structural proteins.
• The peplometer or spike proteins project from the envelope of the virus and are responsible for the virus's characteristic crown or 'corona' of large petals from which it gets its name.
• CCV is very closely related to feline coronavirus and is infectious to dogs, cats and pigs.
• There is slight variation in pathogenicity between isolates.
• One serotype only, although minor antigenic differences between isolates exist.
• Coronavirus infectivity is reduced or eliminated by detergents which destroy the lipid envelope.
• CCV is labile in the external environment (it may survive up to 48 hours in faecal material depending upon the ambient temperature).

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