Survey of the feline AIDS prevalence in the Slovak Republic

Róbert Ondrejka, Eva Slepecká, Anna Ondrejková,  Judit Süli, Serena Pošiváková, Zdenek Beníšek, Marián Prokeš

University of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Epizootiology and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Komenského 73 04181 Košice, Slovak Republic.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: suli@uvm.sk. Tel:  +421 - 917 - 441 885.

Fax:  +421 - 55 – 6323666

Accepted 14 September, 2009

   Abstract

The authors have carried out an epizootiological and serological survey in the Slovak Republic aimed to the determination of the prevalence of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) in autochthon domestic and stray cat populations. At the same time the prevalence of feline leukaemia and toxoplasmosis was also researched in the cat populations. One hundred and ninty eight cats of younger and older age categories were examined in 9 districts of the Slovak Republic during the years 2007 and 2009. The antibodies against FIV and the Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV) antigen were determined by commercial rapid diagnostic tests; the antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii were determined by ELISA method using a commercial kit. From the total One hundred and ninty eight cats, nine were FIV-positive (4.5%) and 4 of them were also FeLV positive (2%). Fifty two cats (26.3%) were toxoplasmosis-positive; the 9 FIV-positive cats were also positive for toxoplasmosis.

Key words: Domestic and stray cats, feline AIDS, feline leukaemia,toxoplasmosis.