Laboratory and clinical findings and their association with viral and proviral loads in cats naturally infected with feline leukemia virus

Duda, Naila Cristina Blatt; Cano-Ortiz, Lucía; Valle, Stella de Faria; Costa, Fernanda Vieira Amorim da; Varela, Ana Paula Muterle; Nunes, Nilson J.S.; Okano, Felipe Yuji; Franco, Ana Cláudia; Roehe, Paulo Michel; González, Félix Hilario Díaz

doi:10.1016/j.cimid.2020.101491

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The outcome of FeLV infection has generally been based on the results regarding p27 antigen and proviral DNA in most previous studies. Cats that test positive for p27 antigen and FeLV DNA provirus are classified as having a progressive infection, and those that are negative for p27 antigen and positive for FeLV DNA provirus are classified as having a regressive infection [4,15,[39][40][41][42]. However, the use of only these viral detection methods has not allowed a complete assessment of the clinical picture due to the different possibilities of retroviral replication in the host as well as the several progressions and outcomes of FeLV diseases.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiological Insights into Feline Leukemia Virus Infections in an Urban Cat (Felis catus) Population from Brazil

Diesel,

de Mello,

de Oliveira Santana

et al. 2024

Animals

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Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus distributed worldwide in domestic cats and with different outcomes (progressive, regressive, abortive, focal). The present study reports an epidemiological survey of FeLV frequency and the evaluation of some risk factors and the two main disease outcomes (progressive and regressive) in an urban cat population from Brazil. A total of 366 cats with sociodemographic information and p27 FeLV antigen test performed were included in the study. FeLV DNA (provirus) in the blood samples of all cats was detected via real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Plasma samples from 109 FeLV-positive and FeLV-negative cats were also submitted to reverse transcription (RT-qPCR) to determine the FeLV viral load. The results demonstrated that 112 (30.6%) cats were positive through the p27 antigen and/or qPCR. A risk factor analysis demonstrated that cats without vaccination against FeLV (OR 9.9, p < 0.001), clinically ill (OR 2.9, p < 0.001), with outdoors access (OR 2.7, p < 0.001), and exhibiting apathetic behavior (OR 3.1, p < 0.001) were more likely to be infected with FeLV. FeLV-infected cats were also more likely to present with anemia (OR 13, p < 0.001) and lymphoma (OR 13.7, p = 0.001). A comparative analysis of the different detection methods in a subset of 109 animals confirmed FeLV infection in 58 cats, including 38 (65.5%) with progressive, 16 (27.6%) with regressive, and 4 (6.9%) with probably focal outcome diseases. In conclusion, this study demonstrates a high prevalence of FeLV in this urban cat population from Brazil and highlights the need to establish more effective prevention strategies (such as viral testing, vaccination programs, specific care for FeLV-positive cats) to reduce diseases associated with this virus in Brazil.

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