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Feline foamy virus seroprevalence and demographic risk factors in stray domestic cat populations in Colorado, Southern California and Florida, USA.

Authors :
Kechejian S
Dannemiller N
Kraberger S
Ledesma Feliciano C
Löchelt M
Carver S
VandeWoude S
Source :
JFMS open reports [JFMS Open Rep] 2019 Sep 16; Vol. 5 (2), pp. 2055116919873736. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Sep 16 (Print Publication: 2019).
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Objectives: Our study aim was to document the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of feline foamy virus (FFV) infection in domestic cat populations presented to animal shelters located in Southern California, Colorado and Florida, USA.<br />Methods: We used a glutathione S-transferase capture ELISA targeting the FFV Gag antigen to screen domestic cat serum collected from cats with unknown owners at eight different animal shelters from Colorado (n = 105, three shelters), Southern California (n = 172, three shelters) and Florida (n = 31, two shelters). χ <superscript>2</superscript> statistics determined location effect on seroprevalence. Bayesian generalized linear models were used to explore age and sex as potential risk factors for infection.<br />Results: FFV seroprevalence was 64.0% across all locations. Seroprevalence by location was as follows: Southern California 75.0%, Colorado 52.4% and Florida 41.9%, with Southern California's seroprevalence being significantly higher. Age had a significant effect on model fit for all locations, with adults having a higher probability of being infected. In Colorado, sex also had a significant effect on model fit, with males having a higher probability of being infected.<br />Conclusions and Relevance: We have documented that FFV is extremely common in stray domestic cat populations across varied geographic and ecological niches throughout the USA. Adult cats are at a higher FFV infection risk than young cats. FFV has been associated with a higher risk of other retroviral infections and has been implicated in several chronic diseases of cats. Additional epidemiological and clinical studies are warranted to investigate the potential impacts of FFV on domestic cat health.<br />Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: There are no conflicts of interest at play in this research. Funding sources had no hand in the study design, data collection, analysis of data or conclusions of the results.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2055-1169
Volume :
5
Issue :
2
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
JFMS open reports
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
31555460
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/2055116919873736