FIP transmission question

My girlfriend and I lost our kitten to FIP and have other cats.  One tested positive for the coronavirus and she didn't have the others tested.  My girlfriend's mom just visited for a few days and my gf is afraid her mom's healthy but old cat might be exposed to the virus.  She isn't close to her family and never told them we had adopted our kitten and didn't want to sadden her mom by telling her about his passing.  She mentioned one of our cat's testing positive for the coronavirus in an email but nothing aside from that.  Now my girlfriend is very worried that her mom's cat could contract the coronavirus from her suitcase and clothing.  The cat lives alone but her mom might be adopting another family member's cat.  Should she be worried?  Everything I read says the chance of contracting the virus after a long flight would be unlikely.  Her mom is dealing with a lot of stress and loss right now and she does not want to add to that.

Heya.. I don't think you should be worried, for a few reasons really. First of all, infection of the coronavirus tends to happen when cats share litter trays and groom each other. The chances of it being on clothing, while not impossible, would be unlikely, esp as I guess she would wash her clothes after her visit. Also, your girlfriends mum's cat may already have feline coronavirus anyway and has been living with it without problem for years as it's so common in cats.  Even if the cat does indeed catch coronavirus from your g/f's mothers clothes it doesn't mean that she will end up with FIP as coronavirus is contagious, not FIP.   I would say please do not worry too much about this, everything is pointing towards it being ok. Not foolproof, but more than likely being ok.