FeLV DNA (qPCR)

Description

The FeLV DNA (qPCR) product is used to detect sequences specific to feline leukemia virus (FeLV) in DNA preparations obtained from biological material collected from cats.

Product characteristics

Kit size: 100 reactions

Reaction: duplex (FAM: FeLV, HEX: internal control)

Internal control: exogenous/endogenous

Determination: qualitative/quantitative

Kit components:

• Reaction mixture: contains DNA polymerase, probes and primers, and other qPCR reaction components;
• Positive control;
• Negative control;
• PCR-grade water

Description of the FeLV pathogen

The FeLV retrovirus (Feline Leukaemia Virus) causes one of the most common infectious diseases in cats. Feline leukemia is a disease that affects several percent of domestic cats (up to 8.8% of individuals in Europe) and some species of wild cats (e.g., the Iberian lynx), impacting the length and quality of cats’ lives. It causes symptoms ranging from anorexia, anemia, and gingivitis to reduced immunity, cancer, and death.

There are four subtypes of the virus: FeLV-A, FeLV-B, FeLV-C, and FeLV-T, which cause different clinical manifestations of the disease. In some infected cats, the disease does not progress, but the virus remains in the body in a latent form (regressive infection). The virus is transmitted through contact with the secretions or blood of an infected animal. Healthy cat can become infected in several ways:

• transmission of the virus from the mother to kittens – during pregnancy or while breastfeeding;
• sharing – licking the fur of an infected cat, especially when a healthy cat has a wounds;
• through a wound via the saliva of an infected animal – this can occur during a cat fight and subsequent bite; this is a fairly common route of infection.

The feline leukemia virus belongs to the genus Gammaretrovirus. It is a single-stranded RNA virus ((+)ssRNA-RT) which, during its life cycle, undergoes a double-stranded DNA stage (provirus stage). FeLV consists of an envelope, a capsid, and a protein-nucleic acid complex containing two copies of single-stranded RNA. Its genome contains three genes: gag (encoding the capsid), pol (encoding reverse transcriptase and integrase), and env (encoding glycoprotein). The FeLV DNA (qPCR) product is designed to detect FeLV genetic material in the provirus stage, i.e., DNA molecules produced by reverse transcription.