Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) causes immunocompromising diseases in both domestic and wild cat species (Felis catus) around the world. Many characteristics of cats can affect the uptake of this virus including health status, age, gender, environment, lifestyle etc. The diagnosis of FIV can be confirmed by detecting antibodies in serum/plasma samples of infected cats. Despite its importance, the status of FIV infection is still poorly known in Pakistan. Therefore, the present study was devised to investigate the seroprevalence of FIV in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Blood samples of cats (n=90) were collected from outdoor facility of Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad and sera samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against FIV by ELISA Kit (Agrolabo S.p.A, Italy). The ELISA based results obtained by measuring the optical density of the substrate utilization showed the overall prevalence of FIV in cats as 28.9% in Faisalabad with a prevalence of 33.9% in male cats and 20.6% in female cats. The overall seropositivity for FIV was higher in adult cats (30.9%) than in young cats (22.7%). Risk factor association by Odd’s ratio revealed that the disease is positively associated with adult age and male gender in cats. In conclusion, the factors of age (adult) and gender (male) were found to be the positively correlated (P=0.0164, OR=2.37, CI=0.74-7.55, RR=1.28, CI=0.94-1.73) with the presence of anti-FIV antibodies in the studied cats indicating the status of FIV infection in cats.

Key words: ELISA, FIV, Immunodeficiency, Risk factors