<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec id="j_jvetres-2021-0059_s_005">
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>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.</p></sec>
<sec id="j_jvetres-2021-0059_s_006">
<h3>Material and Methods</h3>
<p>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.</p></sec>
<sec id="j_jvetres-2021-0059_s_007">
<h3>Results</h3>
<p>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.</p></sec>

<sec id="j_jvetres-2021-0059_s_008">
<h3>Conclusions</h3>
<p>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.</p></sec>
</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.

Seroprevalence of feline foamy virus in domestic cats in Poland

Journal of Veterinary Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Seroprevalence of feline foamy virus in domestic cats in Poland"}

Introduction
Feline foamy virus (FFVfca) is widespread and its prevalence in naturally infected domestic cats ranges between 30% and 80% worldwide. The...

Variable		Number of cats
Variable		FFVfca seropositive	Total
Gender	Female	22	51
Gender	Male	37	61
Age	Young (≤1 year)	10	22
	Adult (1–10 years)	33	49
	Old (>10years)	16	29
Contact with other cats	Yes	48	86
Contact with other cats	No	10	23

Seroprevalence of feline foamy virus in domestic cats in Poland

Article Category: Review article

Published Online: Oct 29, 2021

Page range: 407 - 413

Received: Oct 12, 2021

Accepted: Oct 25, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2021-0059

Keywords
feline foamy virus, domestic cats, ELISA, seroprevalence

© 2021 M. Materniak-Kornas et al. published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Serological prevalence of FFVfca in domestic cat populations from the Gdańsk and Kraków agglomerations aligned with demographic variables

Seroprevalence of feline foamy virus in domestic cats in Poland

Article Category: Review article

Published Online: Oct 29, 2021

Page range: 407 - 413

Received: Oct 12, 2021

Accepted: Oct 25, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2021-0059

Keywordsfeline foamy virus, domestic cats, ELISA, seroprevalence

© 2021 M. Materniak-Kornas et al. published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Serological prevalence of FFVfca in domestic cat populations from the Gdańsk and Kraków agglomerations aligned with demographic variables

Keywords
feline foamy virus, domestic cats, ELISA, seroprevalence