Figure 5.

Cross-fostering from a high- to low-viral-load litter. The mean viral load (copies of Felis catus papillomavirus type 2 DNA per swab), with 95% confidence interval band, is shown for the kittens in both the high-viral-load litter (darker shading) and low-viral-load litter (lighter shading). During the first week of life, one kitten was cross-fostered from the high-viral-load litter to the low-viral-load litter as indicated by the points. Black points indicate the viral load of this kitten prior to cross-fostering, while white points indicate the viral load after cross-fostering. Note that the viral load of this kitten changed rapidly to reflect that of its new litter. For this group of kittens, weaning and then moving to the outdoor run happened as two separate events, the timing of which is indicated by the vertical lines. Note how the differences in viral load seen prior to weaning were no longer present after weaning