A CASE-CONTROLLED STUDY OF FELV INFECTED CATS IN TEHRAN, IRAN, CONFIRMED BY IMMUNOCHROMATOGRAPHY AND RT-PCR AND CORRELATION WITH CLINICAL AND HEMATOLOGICAL FINDINGS.

Immunochromatography (ICGA), reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and hematological assays were performed on blood samples of 90 cats (45 healthy or control ones and 45 sick or case ones) in Tehran, Iran, as a case-control study from June 2009 through February 2010. Prevalence of FeLV in this population was 1.1% and 2. 2% as determined by immunochromatography and RT-PCR assays, respectively. Factors that were significantly associated with positive results in RT-PCR method were pale mucous membrane (P=0.026) and rhinitis (P= 0.002), which were more prevalent in FeLV-positive cats. The size of population of the household was found to be a predictor for FeLV infection, and the relative risk of FeLV infection in cats kept in multicat households is 6.6 times higher in comparison with single housed cats. The most common clinical findings in control group were gingivitis and/or stomatitis (37.8%), skin lesions (8.9%), lymphadenopathy and pale mucous membrane (6.7%), and the most frequent hematological findings were decreased PCV (24.4%), lymphopenia and decreased hemoglobin level (20%), leukocytosis and neutrophilia (13.3%). In the case group, the most common clinical findings were gingivitis and/or stomatitis (77.8%), pale mucous membrane (53.3%) and skin lesions (37.8%), and the most frequent hematological findings were lymphopenia (37.8%), anemia (26.7%), decreased Hb (24.4%) and leukopenia (1 5.6%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]