Open Access
Research (Published online: 13-02-2021)
11. Molecular detection of feline leukemia virus in clinically ill cats in Klang Valley, Malaysia
Kunambiga Mummoorthy, Abd Rahaman Yasmin, Siti Suri Arshad, Abdul Rahman Omar, Saulol Hamid Nur-Fazila, Prem Anand, Liew Wuan Hoong and Kiven Kumar
Veterinary World, 14(2): 405-409

Kunambiga Mummoorthy: Gasing Veterinary Hospital, 53 and 55, Jalan 5/58, Gasing Indah, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Abd Rahaman Yasmin: Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Laboratory of Vaccine and Biomolecules, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Siti Suri Arshad: Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Abdul Rahman Omar: Laboratory of Vaccine and Biomolecules, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Saulol Hamid Nur-Fazila: Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Prem Anand: Gasing Veterinary Hospital, 53 and 55, Jalan 5/58, Gasing Indah, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Liew Wuan Hoong: Gasing Veterinary Hospital, 53 and 55, Jalan 5/58, Gasing Indah, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Kiven Kumar: Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

doi: www.doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.405-409

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Article history: Received: 25-08-2020, Accepted: 07-12-2020, Published online: 13-02-2021

Corresponding author: Abd Rahaman Yasmin

E-mail: noryasmin@upm.edu.my

Citation: Mummoorthy K, Yasmin AR, Arshad SS, Omar AR, Nur-Fazila SH, Anand P, Hoong LW, Kumar K (2021) Molecular detection of feline leukemia virus in clinically ill cats in Klang Valley, Malaysia, Veterinary World, 14(2): 405-409.
Abstract

Background and Aim: Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is classified as Retroviridae gammaretrovirus. FeLV occurs worldwide, including Malaysia. Thus far, only one decade-old study on molecular characterization of Malaysian FeLV isolates exists, which resulted in a scarcity of updated information of current FeLV isolates circulating in Malaysia. This study was conducted to determine the status of FeLV in clinically ill cats and to study the molecular characterization and phylogenetic relatedness of the current isolates.

Materials and Methods: Convenience sampling was performed in 20 cats from the Gasing Veterinary Hospital in Selangor. Plasma and saliva samples were collected from 15 clinically ill cats and 5 healthy cats subjected to one-step reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with primers targeting a highly conserved gene of U3-LTR-gag.

Results: Two clinically ill cats' plasma and saliva samples tested positive for FeLV RNA. Partial nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the current isolates were 94-99% homologous to the previous Malaysian and Japanese FeLV isolates.

Conclusion: Current FeLV isolates from this study displayed higher similarity with the previous Malaysian isolates, signifying that a similar FeLV strain circulated among the cat population in Selangor.

Keywords: feline leukemia virus, Malaysia, one-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, phylogenetic analysis.