Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cats with both Toxoplasma gondii and feline leukemia virus infections
By Patton, S et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·1991·Department of Environmental Practice·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Concurrent infection with Toxoplasma gondii and feline leukemia virus. Antibody response and oocyst production.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Four adult cats were given tissue cysts from mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that can cause health issues. Despite shedding thousands of oocysts (the parasite's eggs), the cats showed no signs of illness and their blood tests remained normal, regardless of whether they were also infected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV). The study found that FeLV did not affect how long the cats shed the oocysts or their antibody response to T. gondii. All cats remained healthy, and no significant health problems were found during examinations after the experiment.
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Abstract
Four adult cats (two testing positive and two negative for feline leukemia virus FeLV) were fed Toxoplasma gondii tissue cysts collected from the brains of mice. Two control cats (1 FeLV+, 1 FeLV-) were not fed cysts. The cats infected with T. gondii shed thousands of oocysts but remained clinically and physically normal, with hemograms and clinical chemistry values essentially unchanged irrespective of their FeLV status. Infection with FeLV did not increase the duration of oocyst shedding. At necropsy no significant lesions were found. T. gondii antibodies were detected by three serologic tests in the cats fed tissue cysts. The time necessary for an antibody response to T. gondii was not altered by the FeLV infection. Indirect hemagglutination (IHA) was the least reliable of the serologic tests studied; it detected antibodies later in the infection, and titers were less than in the other tests. Latex agglutination (LA) detected antibodies a few days before IHA, but titers were less than in modified direct agglutination (MAT). MAT detected antibodies earliest in the infection and also measured antibodies in aqueous humor and cerebrospinal fluid.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1920257/