Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Feline leukemia virus in cats at a Northern Italy vet hospital
By Gallina, Laura et al.·Published in Veterinary research communications·2024·Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Molecular investigation and genetic characterization of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) in cats referred to a veterinary teaching hospital in Northern Italy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) was tested at a veterinary teaching hospital in Northern Italy. Out of 26 cats that were positive for FeLV through standard antigen tests, 22 were confirmed to have the virus using a more sensitive blood test called qPCR. The study found that most of these cats were infected with subtype A of the virus, with some also having subtype B. This highlights the importance of using advanced testing methods to accurately diagnose FeLV in cats.
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Abstract
Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is responsible for feline leukemia syndrome in domestic cats. The prevention and control of disease caused by FeLV are primarily based on vaccination and identification and isolation of infected subjects. Antigen diagnostic methods, which are the most widely used in clinical practices, can be associated to molecular tests to characterize the FeLV detected. In this study, a quantitative SYBR Green Real-Time PCR (qPCR) assay was used to detect FeLV proviral DNA in blood samples from antigen positive cats referred to a veterinary teaching hospital in Northern Italy in 2018-2021. To genetically characterize the identified viruses, a portion of the viral envelope (env) gene was amplified using six different end-point PCRs and sequenced. Twenty-two of 26 (84.6%) cats included in the study tested positive by qPCR assay. This suggests a high performance of the qPCR adopted but further studies are required to investigate the cause of discordant results between the antigen test and qPCR in four cats. From env gene analysis, 15/22 qPCR-positive cats were infected by FeLV subtype A and 5/15 shown coinfection with subtype B.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38644457/