Feline futures: Understanding and Managing Retroviral Infections

Background: Feline Leukemia virus and Feline Immunodeficiency virus remain two of most important retroviruses worldwide to affect domestic cats, causing significant illness and mortality annually. Recent genomic studies have unraveled structural similarities between FeLV and FIV with human retroviruses such as HIV-۱, thus offering important comparative models for the understanding of retroviral pathogenesis. Both diseases cause substantial annual morbidity in cats. The diseases have been associated with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. FeLV is considered more pathogenic than FIV, with most infections leading to immunosuppression/neoplasia, and FIV disease has been described to progress through distinct clinical stages. Recent studies pointed out the persistence of prevalence, advances in diagnosis that include molecular and saliva-based tests, and challenges in distinguishing regressive FeLV cats from vaccinated cats. Prevalence is very much influenced by geographic region, lifestyle, and outdoor exposure. Co-infection with FeLV and FIV exacerbates the clinical course, increasing susceptibility to secondary infections and accelerating disease progression acceleration. Knowledge of viral load dynamics and host immune responses is an absolute requisite to targeted treatment and prevention. Advances in therapies, such as raltegravir, give new hopes for the control of FeLV; biomarkers such as p۲۷ antigen and proviral DNA improve the accuracy of prognosis. Integrated approaches to diagnostics, vaccination, and novel therapeutics will be required for effective control of feline retroviral infections.

کلیدواژه ها:

Retrovirus ، FIV ، FeLV ، Cat health ، Antiviral therapy