Seroprevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus in domestic cats of Fortaleza, Ceará

Abstract

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) are important etiologic agents of immunosuppressive diseases in felines. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of these retroviruses in domestic cats in Fortaleza, Ceará and the epidemiological factors associated with these infections. Between 2015 and 2016, 138 blood samples were collected and tested for FIV and FeLV by the enzyme immunoadsorption assay (ELISA). Parameters such as breed, gender, age, reproductive status, multi-cat environment, outdoor access and clinical manifestations were evaluated. The results showed that 12.32% were positive for FIV, 5.80% for FeLV and 1.45% for co-infection (FIV/FeLV). FIV+ animals were mostly mixed breed, neutered male adult cats, with indoor lifestyle and living in a multi-cat household. The most common clinical manifestation observed was disorders of the oral cavity. Factors found to increase the risk for FeLV seropositivity include mixed breed, young, spayed female cats, indoor lifestyle living in a multi-cat household were the most common epidemiological factors observed. The most common clinical manifestation was anorexia and apathy. The prevalence of these viruses were relatively high, compared with other region of Brazil. This study demonstrated that mixed breed, castrated, multi-cat environment and indoor lifestyle animals are of greater relevance for FIV and FeLV infection diseases. Factors related to cat demographics and health such as age, sex and type of household are important predictors for seropositive status to FeLV or FIV in Fortaleza. High prevalence of FeLV or FIV observed in our study is of concern, in view of the immunosuppressive potential of the two pathogens.

Prevalence of feline coronavirus, feline leukemia virus, and feline immunodeficiency virus in client-owned cats in Croatia

“…[17] The prevalence of FeLV infection observed in the current study (Fig. 1) was similar to the results of studies from Italy [52,41], Austria [44], Poland [30], Cyprus [46], Israel [5], Brazil [51], and Mexico [42] (Table 2). In the current study, the FeLV prevalence was higher than observed in Ireland [17], Germany [18], Serbia [19], Switzerland [48], USA and Canada [16], Japan [31], Thailand [49], Australia [12], and New Zealand [47], but lower than in Hungary [8], Turkey [1,29], Malaysia [50,9], Iran [43], and China [45] (Table 2).…”

Domestic Feline Retroviruses in Environmental Protection Area - Jericoacoara National Park, Ceará, Brazil

“…FIV prevalence varies from 3.6% in North America and 3.2-6.6% in Europe (Gleich et Biezus et al 2019). FeLV prevalence of 10.6%, was twice the prevalence found in the city of Fortaleza (5.8%) and much higher than the prevalence found in other northeastern states, which vary from 0.6% in Rio Grande do Norte to 3.0% in Bahia (Martins et al 2015; Barros et al 2017;Lacerda et al 2017;Rocha et al 2019). These data suggest a greater spread of this virus in Jericoacoara Village compared to other cities in the Northeast, since in most other studies the animals studied were cats treated in veterinary clinics and hospitals, which are more likely to be infected with the virus.…”

Atualidades Na Saúde E Bem-Estar Animal, Volume 7

“…Tal variável está diretamente ligada aos protocolos clínicos seguidos pelo serviço de atendimento em questão, onde a castração é preconizada nos pacientes atendidos, tendo em vista que o acasalamento é uma das formas de transmissão dos retrovírus. Além disso, muitos animais que haviam sido testados já eram castrados o que não pode descartar a possibilidade da infecção ter ocorrido antes do procedimento cirúrgico de esterilização (BIEZUS et al, 2018;ROCHA et al, 2019).…”

“…FeLV, em que a idade prevalente encontrada porRocha et al (2019) foi de 1-5 anos. Em Goiás, o estudo elaborado porLemos et al (2019) demonstrou dados semelhantes, com ocorrência de animais de 1-6 anos com FIV.Westman et al (2016) relatam que tanto animais idosos quanto jovens estão suscetíveis a infecção por FeLV, porém o fato de ter idosos positivos levanta algumas questões como a idade em que se contaminaram, se a contaminação ocorreu por um contactante, tendo em vista que a expectativa de vida de um gato FeLV positivo é de 2 anos (MEGID et al, 2018) ou o vírus ficou latente e só agora reativou.…”

“…dominante na infecção por FeLV 21 (14,58%). Tal variável assemelha-se com resultados encontrados porRocha et al (2019) na cidade de Fortaleza, mas em contraposição a outros estudos que tiveram como ocorrência gatos machos positivo para qualquer uma das retroviroses,(BARROS et al, 2017;LEMOS et al, 2019; BIEZUS et al, 2019;PEREIRA et al, 2020).Tabela 3: Frequência das variáveis analisadas dos animais soropositivos FIV e/ou FeLV, na cidade de Fortaleza-CE nos anos de 2018 a 2021.FIV (…”