Investigation of the relation between feline infectious peritonitis and retroviruses in cats

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) infection is a highly pathogenic and fatal systemic inflammatory disease in cats. Although FIP infection is associated with the immune system, there are several predisposing factors of the disease. FIP has a high rate of interaction with other infectious agents. The feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) infections play a predisposing role by reducing immunity against FIP. This study was conducted with the Turkish Van cats, which is a cat breed specific to the Lake Van region of Turkey, between 2014 and 2015. Ascites and organ damage symptoms were identified by pathological analysis in 15 Van cats that were brought to the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate the presence of FIV and FeLV in the homogenate of brain, lung, liver, kidney, spleen and intestines tissue samples with lesions. As a result of the analysis, FIV was identified in 1 (6.7%) out of 15 cats, and all cat samples were found to be positive in terms of FeLV (100%). In the phylogenetic analysis of positive samples, all FeLVs were observed to be in endogenous-FeLVs. In the FIV phylogenetic analysis, our study strain was found to be in the FIV sub-group B. The fact that FIP positive cats were also FeLV positive at the same time has attracted the attention to the pathogenesis of Endogenous-FeLV in malignant diseases, which has not yet been understood. Particularly, it was concluded that the prevalence of FIP infection can be reduced by paying attention to FIV and FeLV vaccination in multiple-cat sheltering environments in young cats.