Clinicopathological and Epidemiological Findings in Pet Cats Naturally Infected with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) in Australia

Viruses. 2022 Sep 30;14(10):2177. doi: 10.3390/v14102177.

Abstract

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in experimentally infected domestic cats produces characteristic clinical manifestations including hematological changes, neurological disease, neoplasia (most notably lymphoma) and lymphopenia-mediated immunodeficiency predisposing cats to a range of secondary infections. Conflicting reports exist, however, with regard to disease associations and survival time in naturally FIV-infected cats. The purpose of this retrospective case−control study was to investigate the effect of natural FIV infection on hematological, blood biochemical and urinalysis parameters and survival time in three cohorts of pet cats in Australia. Cohorts 1 and 2 were recruited from a large veterinary hospital in Melbourne, Victoria (n = 525 and 282), while a third cohort consisted of cats recruited from around Australia as part of a FIV field vaccine efficacy trial (n = 425). FIV-infected cats in cohorts 1, 2 and 3 were found to have 15/37 (41%), 13/39 (33%) and 2/13 (15%) clinicopathological parameters significantly different to FIV-uninfected cats, respectively. Two changes in FIV-infected cats in cohort 1, hypochromia (low hemoglobin) and hyperglobulinemia, were outside the supplied reference intervals and should serve as diagnostic triggers for FIV testing. Kaplan−Meier survival analysis of cats in cohorts 1 and 2 combined did not find any difference between FIV-infected and FIV-uninfected cats, however a confounding factor was a large euthanasia rate within the first 12 months in both groups. Three significant (p < 0.05) spatial clusters of FIV infection were identified in Melbourne. A possible relationship between FIV infection status and socioeconomic disadvantage was discovered, based on three government indices of socioeconomic status (p < 0.001). Until longitudinal field studies are performed in Australia to further investigate the long-term effects of natural FIV infection, Australian veterinarians should consider FIV to be an important infection of pet cats, and recommend measures to prevent FIV infection.

Keywords: Australia; FIV; biochemistry; clinical signs; diagnosis; disease associations; hematology; survival time; urinalysis; veterinary science.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Veterinary
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cats
  • Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome*
  • Hemoglobins
  • Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline*
  • Lentivirus Infections* / veterinary
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Victoria

Substances

  • Hemoglobins

Grants and funding

This research was supported financially by the Australian Companion Animal Health Foundation and the Feline Health Research Fund. M.E.W. was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), the Neil and Allie Lesue Scholarship, the Herbert Johnson Travel Grant Scholarship and an Endeavour Research Fellowship. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia, supplier of the Fel-O-Vax® FIV vaccine in Australia, covered the journal publishing costs for this manuscript. Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia had no input into the writing of this manuscript, and the decision to publish this study was entirely an independent decision of the authors listed.