Antibody Detection to Feline Immunodeficiency virus (FIV) in stray cats in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran

The present study was performed to determine the prevalence of FIV in stray cat s population of Ahvaz different area. Serum samples were collected from 90 cats from 2005 to 2007. The studied cats were divided into two age groups ( 3 years and 3 years) and based on clinical signs (such as lymphadenopathy, periodontal diseases, gingivitis, abscess and cashecsi) into two groups also. The results were analyzed using Fischer s exact test and Chi-square analysis. Prevalence to FIV antibodies in these cats was 15.55% (14 of 90) by means of ELISA Test Kit, indicating that this virus is present in the ecosystem. The infection had more prevalence in cats above 3 years (78.6%; 11 of 14) compared with cats less than 3 years (21.4%; 3 of 14). Statistical analysis showed significant difference between different age groups (P 0.05). Prevalence of infection was 17.31% (9 of 52) in males and 13.16% (5 of 38) in females, nevertheless the infection was not significant between different genus (p 0.05). Three out of 12 cases (25%) which had clinical signs and 11 out of 78 cases (14.1%) which hadn’t clinical signs were seropositive. There was no significant difference between the two groups also (P 0.05). This study showed that FIV exist among cat s population of Ahvaz area and separation of companion and stray cats is very important for prevention of disease transmission to companion cats.