Pan-European study on the prevalence of the Feline Leukaemia Virus infection – Reported by the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD Europe)

Studer, N. et al. (2019) Pan-European study on the prevalence of the Feline Leukaemia Virus infection – Reported by the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD Europe). Viruses, 11(11), e993. (doi: 10.3390/v11110993) (PMID:31671816)

Abstract

Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus associated with fatal disease in progressively infected cats. While testing/removal and vaccination led to a decreased prevalence of FeLV, recently, this decrease has reportedly stagnated in some countries. This study aimed to prospectively determine the prevalence of FeLV viraemia in cats taken to veterinary facilities in 32 European countries. FeLV viral RNA was semiquantitatively detected in saliva, using RT-qPCR as a measure of viraemia. Risk and protective factors were assessed using an online questionnaire to report geographic, demographic, husbandry, FeLV vaccination, and clinical data. The overall prevalence of FeLV viraemia in cats visiting a veterinary facility, of which 10.4% were shelter and rescue cats, was 2.3% (141/6005; 95% CI: 2.0%−2.8%) with the highest prevalences in Portugal, Hungary, and Italy/Malta (5.7%−8.8%). Using multivariate analysis, seven risk factors (Southern Europe, male intact, 1−6 years of age, indoor and outdoor or outdoor-only living, living in a group of ≥5 cats, illness), and three protective factors (Northern Europe, Western Europe, pedigree cats) were identified. Using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis, the origin of cats in Europe, pedigree, and access to outdoors were important predictors of FeLV status. FeLV-infected sick cats shed more viral RNA than FeLV-infected healthy cats, and they suffered more frequently from anaemia, anorexia, and gingivitis/stomatitis than uninfected sick cats. Most cats had never been FeLV-vaccinated; vaccination rates were indirectly associated with the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. In conclusion, we identified countries where FeLV was undetectable, demonstrating that the infection can be eradicated and highlighting those regions where awareness and prevention should be increased.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was financially supported by research grants from Merial (Lyon, France; now Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany), Virbac (Carros, France), and Zoetis (Kalamazoo, MI, USA).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hosie, Professor Margaret
• Authors: Studer, N., Lutz, H., Saegerman, C., Gönczi, E., Meli, M. L., Boo, G., Hartmann, K., Hosie, M. J., Moestl, K., Tasker, S., Belák, S., Lloret, A., Boucraut-Baralon, C., Egberink, H. F., Pennisi, M.-G., Truyen, U., Frymus, T., Thiry, E., Marsilio, F., Addie, D., Hochleithner, M., Tkalec, F., Vizi, Z., Brunetti, A., Georgiev, B., Ludwig-Begall, L. F., Tschuor, F., Mooney, C. T., Eliasson, C., Orro, J., Johansen, H., Juuti, K., Krampl, I., Kovalenko, K., Šengaut, J., Sobral, C., Borska, P., Kovaříková, S., and Hofmann-Lehmann, R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: Viruses
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1999-4915
• ISSN (Online): 1999-4915
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Viruses 11(11):e993
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License