Seroprevalence of Feline Foamy Virus in Domestic Cats in Poland

Magdalena Materniak-Kornas; Tadeusz Frymus; Martin Löchelt; Jacek Kuźmak

doi:10.2478/jvetres-2021-0059

Seroprevalence of Feline Foamy Virus in Domestic Cats in Poland

J Vet Res. 2021 Oct 29;65(4):407-413. doi: 10.2478/jvetres-2021-0059. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Magdalena Materniak-Kornas¹, Tadeusz Frymus², Martin Löchelt³, Jacek Kuźmak¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
² Department of Small Animal Diseases with Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland.
³ Division Viral Transformation Mechanisms, Research Focus Infection, Inflammation and Cancer, German Cancer Research Center, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

Abstract

Introduction: Feline foamy virus (FFVfca) is widespread and its prevalence in naturally infected domestic cats ranges between 30% and 80% worldwide. The infection is persistent, with a sustained antibody response in FFVfca-positive cats; however to date, no defined disease or clinical symptoms have been proved to be associated with it. The goal of the presented study was to determine the prevalence of FFVfca infection in domestic cats in Poland.

Material and methods: A total of 223 serum samples collected from domestic cats were tested with a glutathione S-transferase capture ELISA test to detect antibodies specific to capsid (Gag), accessory (Bet) and envelope (Env) FFVfca antigens. A Western blot test was used to confirm the ELISA results.

Results: The cut-off value for the Gag antigen was established by calculation and evaluation with the immunoblotting assay. The cut-off values for Bet and Env were calculated from the reactivity of Gag-negative samples. The sera of 99 cats (44%) showed reactivity to Gag, those of 80 did so (35.9 %) to Bet, while only 56 samples (25%) were reactive to Env. Only 51 (22.9%) sera were positive for all antigens. The main diagnostic antigen was selected to be Gag. A statistically significant association was found between FFVfca status and the age of the cat.

Conclusions: This study proved the high seroprevalence of FFVfca in domestic cats in Poland for the first time and confirmed that adult cats are at higher FFVfca infection risk than preadult cats. Its results correspond to those reported from other countries.

Keywords: ELISA; domestic cats; feline foamy virus; seroprevalence.