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. 1992 Mar 1;33(1):9–14. doi: 10.1186/BF03546930

A Survey of FIV Antibodies and FeLV Antigens in Free-roaming Cats in the Capital Area of Finland

FIV antikroppar och FeLV antigener hos fritt strövande kattor i huvudstadsregionen i Finland

A Sukura 1,✉, T Salminen 1, L-A Lindberg 1
PMCID: PMC8117875  PMID: 1317991

Abstract

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) was first isolated and identified in 1986. Since then it has been shown to have a worldwide distribution, and the infection generally appears to have reached a state of endemicity. This is the 1st study of FIV-prevalence in Finland. Serum samples of 196 free-roaming cats were tested for antibodies to FIV and FeLV antigens (Feline leukemia virus). With a combined enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 13 of the cats (6.6%) turned out to be positive for FIV and 2 for FeLV (1.0%). Adult male cats in the capital area of Finland had a FIV prevalence of 24%, a relative proportion 4.7 times higher than that for females.

Keywords: FAIDS, feline-aids, immunosuppression, retroviridae, lentivirus, feline immunodeficiency virus, epidemiology, feline leukemia virus

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