Epidemiological Insights into Feline Leukemia Virus Infections in an Urban Cat (

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus distributed worldwide in domestic cats and with different outcomes (progressive, regressive, abortive, focal). The present study reports an epidemiological survey of FeLV frequency and the evaluation of some risk factors and the two main disease outcomes (progressive and regressive) in an urban cat population from Brazil. A total of 366 cats with sociodemographic information and p27 FeLV antigen test performed were included in the study. FeLV DNA (provirus) in the blood samples of all cats was detected via real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Plasma samples from 109 FeLV-positive and FeLV-negative cats were also submitted to reverse transcription (RT-qPCR) to determine the FeLV viral load. The results demonstrated that 112 (30.6%) cats were positive through the p27 antigen and/or qPCR. A risk factor analysis demonstrated that cats without vaccination against FeLV (OR 9.9,