Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting feline leukemia virus in cat blood and bone marrow
By Herring, E S et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2001·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Detection of feline leukaemia virus in blood and bone marrow of cats with varying suspicion of latent infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats was tested for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) to see if it could be detected in their blood and bone marrow. Out of 50 cats, 41 were found to be negative for the virus, while five cats and one fetus were confirmed to have a persistent FeLV infection. Some cats showed symptoms related to FeLV but did not test positive for the virus, indicating that not all health issues linked to FeLV are due to an active infection. This study suggests that FeLV may not always be the cause of certain illnesses in cats.
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine if polymerase chain reaction (PCR) could be used to detect FeLV proviral DNA in bone marrow samples of cats with varying suspicion of latent infection. Blood and bone marrow samples from 50 cats and bone marrow from one fetus were collected, including 16 cats with diseases suspected to be FeLV-associated. Serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), blood and bone marrow immunofluorescent antibody test (IFA), and blood and bone marrow PCR were performed on each cat, and IFA and PCR on bone marrow of the fetus. Forty-one cats were FeLV negative. Five cats and one fetus were persistently infected with FeLV. Four cats had discordant test results. No cats were positive on bone marrow PCR only. It appears persistent or latent FeLV infection is not always present in conditions classically associated with FeLV.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11876630/