New In-Clinic Test for FeLV and FIV

a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19930142"Sand C, Englert T, Egberink H et al: Evaluation of a new in-clinic test system to detect feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus infection, Vet Clin Pathol 39:210, 2009./abr / br / Feline leukemia (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are both important pathogens of cats that often result in lifelong infection. Routine testing as well as testing of clinically ill cats is recommended, and is usually done using in-clinic test kits. For FeLV, these assays detect a viral protein, while for FIV, virus-specific antibody is detected. A new test system, Anigen Rapid FIV Ab/FeLV Ag test kit is now available on the European market. These investigators examined the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of this new test kit on 300 samples using western blot as the gold standard for FIV infection, and polymerase chain reaction for FeLV infection; in addition, results were compared to those attained using the most commonly-used kit made by IDEXX (SNAP Combo). In comparison to the gold standard for FIV, the new Anigen test had a sensitivity of 88.9% and specificity of 97.7%, and for FeLV, a sensitivity of 40% and a specificity of 100%. In comparing to the IDEXX Combo SNAP test for FIV testing, the Anigen assay had one false positive result; the SNAP test had no false positive results. Both kits had one false negative result. For FeLV testing, neither kit had a false positive result, but the Anigen kit had 9 false negatives, while the SNAP kit had 7 false negative results. The investigators concluded that the new test performed very well, similar in performance to the SNAP Combo test. For both kits, any positive result should be confirmed with a second, more sensitive test, especially in healthy cats. [MK]br / br / bRelated articles:/bbr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18455463"Levy J, Crawford C, Hartmann K et al: 2008 American Association of Feline Practitioners' feline retrovirus management guidelines, J Feline Med Surg 10:300, 2008./abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Library/abr / a href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-42278374776865373?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=31c1E8_PrEg:sdCI2zXfBSA:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/31c1E8_PrEg" height="1" width="1"/

FIV and Papillomavirus

a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20042039"Munday JS, Witham AI: Frequent detection of papillomavirus DNA in clinically normal skin of cats infected and noninfected with feline immunodeficiency virus, Vet Dermatol 21:307, 2010./abr / br / Feline squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), a type of skin cancer, often have evidence of infection with feline papillomavirus (FPV); it is not known if the virus contributes to cancer development in cats. Cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) have a higher incidence of SCC, perhaps due to increased FPV infection. This study examined the rate of FPV infection in healthy cats (without SCC), and compared this rate in FIV-free (n=22), and FIV-infected cats (n=22). The investigators found that 52% of cats tested positive for FPV; no difference was found in FIV-infected versus uninfected cats. In addition, both FPV-infected and uninfected cats were found within single households, indicating exposure does not necessarily lead to infection. The investigators concluded that while FPV infection in asymptomatic cats is common, a link with SCC could not be shown. [MK]br / bbr / /bbr / bRelated articles:/bbr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19649022"Munday JS, Dunowska M, De Grey S: Detection of two different papillomaviruses within a feline cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: case report and review of the literature, N Z Vet J 57:248, 2009./abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Library/abr / a href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter /adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-2410158691240237945?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=eGoFSkmLkcc:hSwh5r_UgDA:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/eGoFSkmLkcc" height="1" width="1"/

FIV in Western Canada

a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20514250"Ravi M, Wobeser G, Taylor S et al: Naturally acquired feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in cats from western Canada: prevalence, disease associations, and survival analysis, Can Vet J 51:271, 2010./abr / br / While feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection is well known as a cause of illness in cats worldwide, little data has been available about infection rates in Canada. In this retrospective study, 1205 client-owned cats in western Canada were tested for FIV antibodies. 5.5% of the cats were FIV-antibody positive. Infected cats were more likely to be males, to have bite wounds, and were older than antibody-negative cats. The survival time of FIV-positive cats was not significantly different from age and gender matched FIV-negative cats. This research adds to the knowledge that veterinarians in Canada need to develop testing and management plans for FIV. [SL]br / br / bRelated articles:/bbr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19721785"Little S, Sears W, Lachtara J et al: Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in Canada, Can Vet J 50:644, 2009./abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Library/abr / a href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-4954880163653585037?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=YKRbCBeO4XA:9Mri7aviPdo:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/YKRbCBeO4XA" height="1" width="1"/

FIV and Kidney Disease in Cats

a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20151865?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=27"White JD, Malik R, Norris JM, Malikides N. Association between naturally occurring chronic kidney disease and feline immunodeficiency virus infection status in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc. Feb 15 2010;236(4):424-429./abr / br / Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is well known in older cats. In most cases, the underlying cause is never identified. CKD appears more common in young male cats and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is also common in these cats, raising the question of whether the two are related. To investigate a potential association between chronic kidney disease and FIV in cats in Australia, a case-control study was designed. The study included 73 cats with CKD and 69 cats with no evidence of CKD. All cats were tested for FIV antibodies and information on age, breed and gender was gathered. The cats were divided into two age groups - under 11 years old and over 11 years old. Statistical analysis was performed to investigate any relationship between CKD and FIV, and with the other variables. Among cats under 11 years old, those with CKD were significantly more likely to be infected with FIV than cats without CKD. It was not possible to determine if infection with FIV occurred before the cats developed CKD. The role of FIV in the development of CKD disease requires further research. [SL]br / br / bRelated articles:/bbr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16821485?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=2"White JD, Norris JM, Baral RM, Malik R. Naturally-occurring chronic renal disease in Australian cats: a prospective study of 184 cases. Aust Vet J. Jun 2006;84(6):188-194./abr / br / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17409007?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=5"Norris JM, Bell ET, Hales L, et al. Prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus infection in domesticated and feral cats in eastern Australia. J Feline Med Surg. Aug 2007;9(4):300-308./abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Library/abr / a href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter/abr / New for 2010: a href="http://winnfelinehealth.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=415b3f2ea14ea9e3390df93aaid=cb095b8233"subscribe to our e-newsletter/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-525274476678157505?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=GenSK2PIiIc:9YWBrNupbw0:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/GenSK2PIiIc" height="1" width="1"/

FeLV and FIV in Germany

a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19616984?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=3"Gleich SE, Krieger S, Hartmann K. Prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukaemia virus among client-owned cats and risk factors for infection in Germany. J Feline Med Surg. 2009;11(12):985-992./abr / br / This study determined prevalence and risk factors for retrovirus infection in a large population of cats in Germany over a 10-year period. Client-owned cats (17,462) were tested for the presence of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) antibodies or feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) antigen. A subset of 100 cats was evaluated to determine their survival times. Of the 17,289 cats, 563 tested positive for anitibodies against FIV. The prevalence was 3.2% and did not change significantly between 1993 and 2002. FeLV antigen was found in 638 cats. The prevalence of FeLV decreased significantly during this time from 6% to 1%. Forty-two cats were positive for both viruses. Living in a multi-cat household did not influence the risk of retroviral infection. Risk factors for FIV infection were male gender, older age, mixed breed, access to outdoor, aggressive behavior, and FeLV co-infection. Risk factors for FeLV infection included contact with other cats, aggressive behavior, and FIV co-infection. Vaccination and testing programs appear to be effective in decreasing FeLV infection. The median survival time of FIV-infected cats was not significantly different from non-infected cats. FeLV-infected cats had significantly shorter median survival times than non-infected cats. [VT]br / br / bRelated articles:/bbr / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19721785?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=2"Little S, Sears W, Lachtara J, Bienzle D. Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in Canada. Can Vet J. 2009;50(6):644-648./abr / br / a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16448357?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumordinalpos=34"Levy JK, Scott HM, Lachtara JL, Crawford PC. Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity. J Am Vet Med Assoc. Feb 1 2006;228(3):371-376./abr / br / More on cat health: a href="http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/Health.html"Winn Feline Foundation Liba href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"rary/abr / /aa href="http://www.facebook.com/WinnFelineFoundation"Join us on Facebook/abr / a href="http://www.twitter.com/WinnFeline"Follow us on Twitter/abr / br / New for 2010: a href="http://winnfelinehealth.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=415b3f2ea14ea9e3390df93aaid=cb095b8233"Subscribe to our e-newsletter/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"Providing expert cat health information and supporting cat health research since 1968.img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1170470470666539402-3342993882373999961?l=winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com' alt='' //divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:UT3xtbGYFzA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=UT3xtbGYFzA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?i=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?a=KZ301bAl8xI:IF9dgaCOTKI:oCFASsrFxfc"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation?d=oCFASsrFxfc" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatHealthNewsFromTheWinnFelineFoundation/~4/KZ301bAl8xI" height="1" width="1"/

Understanding Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Grant, C. K., E. A. Fink, et al. (2009). "Improved health and survival of FIV-infected cats is associated with the presence of autoantibodies to the primary receptor, CD134." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(47): 19980-5.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is an important pathogen of cats, causing lifelong infection and ultimately death from immunosuppression. These researchers examined antibody levels to various viral and cellular proteins in stored serum samples collected from FIV-infected cats over 30 years. They found very strong antiviral responses to several virus proteins, including the major surface protein of the virus. Interestingly, they also found evidence of antibodies to the feline cellular protein used by the virus to attach to and infect the cell (CD134). Even more remarkable, they found that this antibody only bound the cellular protein when the viral attachment protein was bound to it. Thus, binding of the virus to this cellular protein reveals a site on the cellular protein that is not normally “visible” to the immune system of the cat, leading to antibody production to this cellular protein. In a laboratory experiment, they found that not only did antibodies to the virus protein inhibited virus infection, but antibodies to the cellular protein targeted by the virus did so as well. When they evaluated antibody levels from cats of known health status, the highest percentage of cats positive for this cell-specific antibody were healthy and asymptomatic. In contrast, samples negative for this antibody were largely acquired from cats that were ill. In assessing viral load in the blood of 20 infected cats and comparing that to antibody levels to the CD134, the researchers found that cats with high viral loads (poorer prognosis) did not have measurable levels of antibody to the CD134. The findings are consistent with a role for anti-cell receptor antibodies in protection from virus spread and disease progression. [MK]
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Related articles:
Hosie, M. J., D. Addie, et al. (2009). "Feline immunodeficiency ABCD guidelines on prevention and management." J Feline Med Surg 11(7): 575-84.
>> Free full text article

Levy, J., C. Crawford, et al. (2008). "2008 American Association of Feline Practitioners' feline retrovirus management guidelines." Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery 10(3): 300-316.
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FeLV and FIV Affect Blood Values in Cats

Gleich S, Hartmann K: Hematology and serum biochemistry of feline immunodeficiency virus-infected and feline leukemia virus-infected cats, J Vet Intern Med 23:552, 2009.

Complete documentation of the hematologic and biochemical values in cats naturally infected by feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) or feline leukemia virus (FeLV) has been lacking. The authors performed a retrospective study of 3,780 client owned cats tested for FIV and FeLV. The objective was to report differences in laboratory values between FIV- or FeLV-infected and non-infected and between FIV- and FeLV-infected cats. Serum activity levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) and serum concentration of glucose were significantly lower, while serum concentrations of total protein (TP) and gamma-globulins were significantly higher in FIV-positive cats compared with negative cats. Results indicated significantly lower PCV, hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell count (RBC) and platelet counts (PLT) in FeLV-positive cats than FIV- infected and control cats. TP and creatinine concentrations were significantly lower in FeLV-infected cats than in non-infected. FeLV-infected cats were at high risk for the development of cytopenias and hematologic abnormalities are common. Clinicopathologic abnormalities are less frequent in FIV-infected cats. [VT]
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Related Articles:
Hofmann-Lehmann R, Holznagel E, Ossent P et al: Parameters of disease progression in long-term experimental feline retrovirus (feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus) infections: hematology, clinical chemistry, and lymphocyte subsets, Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 4:33, 1997.
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Levy JK, Scott HM, Lachtara JL et al: Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity, J Am Vet Med Assoc 228:371, 2006.
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Feline Immunodeficiency Virus in African Lions

Roelke ME, Brown MA, Troyer JL et al: Pathological manifestations of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in wild African lions, Virology 390:1, 2009.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), an important pathogen of domestic cats, also infects other members of the Felidae family, including African lions. Lions have FIV seroprevalence levels of 10% in some populations, and different strains of the virus are known to circulate in much of Africa. It has been unclear whether this virus causes any disease in infected lions, or if it is a host-adapted virus that causes no disease. This study investigated lions in Botswana and Tanzania to determine if there were any clinical correlates with FIV infection. Sixty-four lions in Botswana parks, and 8 lions from the Serengeti Park in Tanzania were sampled. Virtually all FIV-infected animals had gingivitis and poor oral health. Many had papillomatous lesions on the underside of the tongue. Infected lions also had evidence of chronic inflammation. Dehydration was also more common among infected lions, though the underlying cause was not known, as most lived in swamplands with ample water. Anemia was also found more often in infected lions, as was poor coat condition, and lymphoid depletion. The investigators concluded that over time, FIV infections in free-ranging lions can lead to adverse clinical, immunological, and pathological outcomes in some individuals, and could have a detrimental impact on their survival, particularly in times of stress. [MK]
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Related articles:
Pecon-Slattery J, McCracken CL, Troyer JL, VandeWoude S, Roelke M, Sondgeroth K, Winterbach C, Winterbach H, O'Brien SJ. Genomic organization, sequence divergence, and recombination of feline immunodeficiency virus from lions in the wild. BMC Genomics. 2008 Feb 5;9:66.
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Brown EW, Yuhki N, Packer C et al: A lion lentivirus related to feline immunodeficiency virus: epidemiologic and phylogenetic aspects, J Virol 68:5953, 1994.
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Prevalence of FeLV and FIV in Canada

Little S, Sears W, Lachtara J et al: Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in Canada, Can Vet J 50:644, 2009.

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are two of the most important infectious diseases of cats worldwide. Many studies have evaluated the prevalence of FeLV and FIV in North American cats, but very little data has been available for Canada. Veterinary clinics, animal shelters, cat rescue programs, and feral cat programs in Canada were invited to participate in the study. Enrolled participants were requested to submit the results of FeLV and FIV testing performed between Aug. 1 and Nov. 15, 2007. Information collected on each cat tested included location of testing, age, gender, access to outdoors, and whether the cat was ill at the time of testing. A total of 343 vet clinics and 13 shelters/rescue groups representing all Canadian provinces participated. Complete results were received for 11,144 cats of which 4.3% were positive for FIV and 3.4% were positive for FeLV. The seroprevalence of FeLV and FIV in this study was higher than in a recent similar study of predominantly US cats (FIV 2.5%, FeLV 2.3%). [SL]
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Little SE: Feline immunodeficiency virus testing in stray, feral, and client-owned cats of Ottawa, Can Vet J 46:898, 2005.
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Levy JK, Scott HM, Lachtara JL et al: Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity, J Am Vet Med Assoc 228:371, 2006.
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Risk Factors for FIV Infection

Murray, J.K., et al., Risk factors for feline immunodeficiency virus antibody test status in Cats Protection adoption centres (2004). Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery, 2009. 11(6): p. 467-473.

This study determined the prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) within a group of cats entering 10 United Kingdom adoption centres run by Cat Protection. All cats entering the facilities were tested for FIV using a rapid enzyme immunoassay antibody test. The overall prevalence of positive test results was 3.1%, while the prevalence at different adoption centres varied from 0.8% to 6.7%. Male cats were found to be approximately three times more likely than female cats to be FIV positive. The previous history of the cat was also shown to be associated with FIV status, where cats admitted from stray or feral backgrounds were approximately three times more likely to be FIV positive than those cats surrendered by their owners. Cats in poor health were four times more likely to be positive than those with fair to good health. There was no evidence found for an association between neuter status and FIV test results. The study may help adoption centres identify those cats with an increased risk of FIV for routine FIV testing. [VT]
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Related articles:
Levy, J.K., et al., Seroprevalence of feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection among cats in North America and risk factors for seropositivity. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 2006. 228(3): p. 371-6.
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Macieira, D.B., et al., Prevalence and risk factors for hemoplasmas in domestic cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus and/or feline leukemia virus in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. J Feline Med Surg, 2008. 10(2): p. 120-9.
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