Detailed description
Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus that is widely prevalent among felines worldwide. Feline leukemia is a common non-traumatic lethal disease in cats, which is a malignant neoplastic infectious disease caused by feline leukemia virus and feline sarcoma virus. The main features are malignant lymphoma, myeloid leukemia, and degenerative thymus atrophy and non-aplastic anemia, among which the most serious for cats is malignant lymphoma. Kittens have high susceptibility and decrease with age.
Feline HIV (FIV) is a lentiviral virus that infects cats worldwide, with 2.5% to 4.4% of cats infected. FIV is taxonomically different from the other two feline retroviruses, feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline foam virus (FFV), and is closely related to HIV (HIV). In FIV, five subtypes have been identified based on differences in nucleotide sequences encoding viral envelope (ENV) or polymerase (POL). FIVs are the only non-primate lentiviruses that cause AIDS-like syndrome, but FIVs are not generally lethal to cats because they can live relatively healthy for many years as carriers and transmitters of the disease.