Prevalence of Different Courses of Feline Leukaemia Virus Infection in Four European Countries
Juliana Giselbrecht,
Stéphanie Jähne,
Michèle Bergmann,
Marina L. Meli,
Benita Pineroli,
Eva Boenzli,
Svenja Teichmann-Knorrn,
Yury Zablotski,
Maria-Grazia Pennisi,
Nicolas Layachi,
Rodrigo Serra,
Stefano Bo,
Regina Hofmann-Lehmann,
Katrin Hartmann
Affiliations
Juliana Giselbrecht
LMU Small Animal Clinic, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, 80539 Munich, Germany
Stéphanie Jähne
LMU Small Animal Clinic, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, 80539 Munich, Germany
Michèle Bergmann
LMU Small Animal Clinic, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, 80539 Munich, Germany
Marina L. Meli
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, and Centre for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Benita Pineroli
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, and Centre for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Eva Boenzli
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, and Centre for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, and Centre for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Katrin Hartmann
LMU Small Animal Clinic, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, 80539 Munich, Germany
Prevalence of progressive feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) infection is known to still be high in cats in Europe, especially in Southern Europe, but the prevalence of other outcomes of FeLV infection has not been determined in most countries. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of progressive, regressive, abortive, and focal infection in four European countries, two with a high (Italy, Portugal) and two with a low expected prevalence (Germany, France). Blood samples of 934 cats (Italy: 269; Portugal: 240; France: 107; Germany: 318) were evaluated for the p27 antigen, as well as anti-whole virus, anti-SU, and anti-p15E antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum and for proviral DNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in whole blood. Positive p27 antigen ELISA results were confirmed by reverse transcriptase-qPCR (RT-qPCR) detecting viral RNA in saliva swabs and/or blood. The outcome of FeLV infection was categorised as progressive (antigen-positive, provirus-positive), regressive (antigen-negative, provirus-positive), abortive (antigen- and provirus-negative, antibody-positive), and focal (antigen-positive, provirus-negative) infection. Overall FeLV prevalence was 21.2% in Italy, 20.4% in Portugal, 9.5% in Germany, and 9.3% in France. Prevalence of progressive, regressive, abortive, and focal infection in Italy was 7.8%, 4.5%, 6.3%, and 2.6%; in Portugal 3.8%, 8.3%, 6.7%, and 1.7%; in Germany 1.9%, 1.3%, 3.5%, and 2.8%; in France 1.9%, 3.7%, 2.8%, and 0.9%, respectively. In conclusion, overall FeLV prevalence is still very high, especially in Southern European countries. Therefore, testing, separation of infected cats, and vaccination are still important measures to reduce the risk of FeLV infection.
