Risk factors and clinical and laboratory findings associated with feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus infections in Bangkok, Thailand

Vet World Vol.15 July-2022 Article-1

Research Article

Veterinary World, 15(7): 1601-1609

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.1601-1609

Oumaporn Rungsuriyawiboon¹, Thitichai Jarudecha¹, Supa Hannongbua², Kiattawee Choowongkomon³, Chaiwat Boonkaewwan⁴, and Jatuporn Rattanasrisomporn⁵

1. Department of Veterinary Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Technology, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
3. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
4. Akkhraratchakumari Veterinary College, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80161, Thailand.
5. Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.

Background and Aim: Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are retroviruses associated with chronic and neoplastic diseases in domestic and non-domestic cats. There has been increasing interest in the clinical importance of feline retroviruses in Thailand and the identification of associated risk factors in domestic cats. To prevent the spread of retroviral diseases and improve the management of retrovirus-infected cats, risk factors and associated clinical laboratory data must be clearly understood. This study aimed to identify the influence of household, lifestyle, health status, sterilization, clinical presentations, and laboratory findings on FIV- and FeLV-infected cats in Bangkok, Thailand.

Materials and Methods: A total of 480 cats were evaluated for FeLV p27 antigen and FIV antibodies using Witness FeLV-FIV Rapid Test and SNAP FIV/FeLV Combo Test at a veterinary hospital service.

Results: Of the 480 cats tested, 113 were positive for virus infection, including 60 for FeLV (12.5%), 40 for FIV (8.3%), and 13 for both FeLV and FIV (2.7%). The findings revealed that the risk factors for cats infected with FeLV, FIV, or both FeLV and FIV were significantly different compared with those for non-infected cats (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that multi-cat ownership is a risk factor for the high prevalence of feline retrovirus infection, as multi-cat households exhibited a higher prevalence of infection than single-cat households. Anemic and sick cats were also at a greater risk of testing positive for specific retrovirus infections. FeLV-infected cats had a higher risk of anemia and low erythrocyte and thrombocyte counts (p ≤ 0.0001), whereas FIV-infected cats were more likely to have anemia and leukocytopenia than controls.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the risk factors for retroviral diseases and associated clinical and laboratory findings can be used to develop strategies to reduce FIV and FeLV infections in cats. Keywords: feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia virus, hematology, risk factors, serum biochemistry.

Keywords: feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia virus, hematology, risk factors, serum biochemistry.

How to cite this article: Rungsuriyawiboon O, Jarudecha T, Hannongbua S, Choowongkomon K, Boonkaewwan C, Rattanasrisomporn J (2022) Risk factors and clinical and laboratory findings associated with feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus infections in Bangkok, Thailand, Veterinary World, 15(7): 1601-1609.

Received: 28-01-2022 Accepted: 17-05-2022 Published online: 05-07-2022

Corresponding author: Jatuporn Rattanasrisomporn E-mail: fvetjpn@ku.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.1601-1609

Copyright: Rungsuriyawiboon, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.