Survey of Feline Influenza and Feline Leukemia Virus Infection in Local Breed Cats of Bangladesh

Feline Influenza Virus (FInV) and Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) are two important viruses causing cat flu and neoplastic disease all over the world, respectively but to the knowledge, there is no epidemiological survey report available for these two killer diseases in cat in Bangladesh. Therefore, the present study was aimed to determine the prevalence of FInV and FeLV infection through an epidemiologic survey in selected areas of Bangladesh. For this purpose, a total 60 randomly selected cats consisting of 48 pet and 12 stray cats at Tangail district in Bangladesh during May to October, 2009 were used. Nasal swab and blood sample were collected from all cats and tested by commercial rapid RapiGEN Feline Influenza Virus (FInV) Ag Test kit and RapiGEN Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) Ag Test kit, respectively following the manufacturer s (RapiGEN Inc., Korea) instructions. Results revealed the overall prevalence of feline influenza and feline leukemia recorded 5.0 and 1.67%, respectively in cats. There was no significant relationship between the diseases (FInV and FeLV) and different variables. However, the knowledge of the status of FInV and FeLV in cats in the study area will be helpful to undertake preventive measures for FInV and FeLV infection.