Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus with global impact on the health of domestic cats that causes tumors (mainly lymphoma), bone marrow disorders, and immunosuppression. The importance of FeLV is underestimated due to complacency associated with previous decline in prevalence. However, with this comes lowered vigilance, which, along with potential for regressively infected cats to reactivate viremia and shed the virus or develop clinical signs, can pose a risk to feline health. This article summarizes knowledge on FeLV pathogenesis, courses of infection, and factors affecting prevalance, infection outcome, and development of FeLV-associated diseases, with special focus on regressive FeLV infection.
Keywords: FeLV; FeLV-associated diseases; Latent infection; PCR; Pathogenesis; Regressive infection; Risk factors; Veterinary sciences.
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