#faids

My fears My dreams My love fades To sorrow To shadows To horror To shame

Hope that love is Hope that feeling’s real

Drunken thoughts Clouds the process Of distinguishing The difference Between correct and wrong

Dreaming eternally Illuminating once more, the light that shines brightly through cracked windows and doors. Finding oneself in a sea of demented whores that will hunt the poorest of poor and the mentally sore. Send out your message before the villains of your life come to perform an action so fleeting, it shouldn’t be born

FAIDS - DOGE ATERS (instrumental version)

Zombie Rott - Rownin’ With The Trees of Desertland

Yesterday I wrote about feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and today is the turn of the often confused feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). The two viruses are both retroviruses but differ taxonomically with feline immunodeficiency virus being more closely related to its human counterpart HIV. It is most commonly transmitted through deep bite wounds and scratches as it’s an enveloped virus so cannot survive for long in the outside environment. It differs from FeLV here as although both viruses are enveloped, FeLV can be spread by more non-invasive transfer of saliva such as mutual grooming as the virus replicates first in mucosal surfaces. As transmission requires deep wounds, the disease is more common in males than females as male cats are found fighting over territory more often. It’s also more prevalent in outdoor cats and those that haven’t been neutered, as they again are more likely to get in to fights. It can be transferred from mother to foetus but this is rare and not many kittens or adolescents are seen with the disease. It is more commonly seen if the queen was in the acute phase of infection while pregnant. The average age of infection is 5 years. Cats with FIV can live relatively long lives given their owners are vigilant and treat any secondary infections effectively.

The virus progresses through various stages in the body. First up is the acute phase causing symptoms such as lethargy and a fever. It is here that the virus spreads to lymphoid tissues where white blood cells are produced, stored and mature. The virus interacts with cell surface receptors and is known to severely affect helper T lymphocytes, responsible in part for aiding phagocytosis and antibody production. The virus also infects macrophages, cells which play an important role in the phagocytosis of bacteria, and these aid with the transport of the disease around the body. Next the cats enter an asymptomatic phase which can last from months to years. Finally the disease develops in to feline acquired immune deficiency syndrome (FAIDS) in which the cats immune system is severely compromised and the animal is extremely susceptible to secondary infections which are ultimately the cause of death.

Vaccines are available (not in the UK) however there are a huge number of strains and variations of the virus making it hard to produce an effective vaccine. Feline immunodeficiency virus contains a genome made from RNA. RNA viruses are able to mutate and evolve a lot easier than DNA viruses as their replication process using RNA polymerase doesn’t have a ‘proof-reading’ stage leading to more mutations and therefore genetic variation. The vaccine is used in the US, is non-core and given if the cat is thought to be in a high risk area once considering risks and effectiveness. FIV is seen worldwide with 1-14% of healthy cats and 44% of sick cats harbouring the virus.

Interestingly, kittens and cats that have previously been vaccinated can test a false positive for FIV, as kittens carry antibodies from their mother’s milk and vaccinated cats carry antibodies resulting from the vaccination. For this reason cats brought in to shelters should never be euthanised for testing positive to FIV alone as they may have been previously vaccinated and perfectly healthy. This is another argument against using the vaccine as it causes confusion upon diagnosis.