Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How common are FeLV and FIV infections in cats in Santa Catarina
By Biezus, Giovana et al.·Published in Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases·2019·Veterinary Medicine Department, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Prevalence of and factors associated with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) in cats of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study of 274 cats in Brazil found that about 28% of sick cats tested positive for feline leukemia virus (FeLV), while around 7.6% had feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). The cats that were positive for these viruses were often older, male, and had aggressive behavior. Most of these cats were adopted from shelters or rescued and lived in multi-cat households with outdoor access. The findings highlight the importance of vaccination and better control measures to protect cats from these serious infections.
People also search for: cat leukemia virus symptoms · FIV in cats treatment · why is my cat aggressive · cat vaccination importance · shelter cat health issues
Abstract
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 274 cats for determination of FeLV antigenemia and FIV seropositivity and factors associated with those infections in cats presented at the Veterinary Hospital of the Santa Catarina State University - UDESC (Brazil). Apparent prevalence for sick cats at the hospital population was 28.41% (95%CI 21.88-34.94%) for FeLV, 7.65% (95%CI 3.71-11.50%) for FIV and 2.18% (95%CI 0.56-5.47%) for both viruses. For healthy cats, the apparent prevalence was 9.89% (95%CI 3.75-16.02%) for FeLV, 2.20% (95%CI 0.34-7.75%) for FIV by immunoassay (ELISA). Average age for FeLV- and FIV-positive individuals was 38.32 and 64.25 months, respectively. Behavior such as aggressiveness and sex (male) were both associated with increased odds of result positivity test for FeLV and FIV; older animals were also associated with FIV test results. A very small proportion of the animals were vaccinated against FeLV and none against FIV. Most of the animals were adopted from shelters or rescued from streets, living with multiple cats that had access to outdoors. The high prevalence of FeLV suggests a need for better control strategies against this disease.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30961813/