Abstract
Prevalence of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) was investigated in wild-living European wildcats (Felis silvestris) in Slovenia. Seventeen blood samples of 15 wildcats (13 males and two females, two recaptures—1 and 1.5 years after capture) were collected between August 1999 and April 2006. Wildcats were anesthetized using ketamine and medetomidine. Specific antibodies against FIV and FeLV antigens were detected using commercial virus antibody test kits or commercial antigen detection kits, respectively. All investigated sera were negative for presence of specific antibodies against FIV and all investigated animals were negative for presence of FeLV, showing that the highest expected prevalence of the diseases in the population is low. This contrasts with the data from the domestic cats, suggesting a low level of contact between both populations. Apart from addressing the obvious concerns about the impact of infectious diseases on a wild population, epidemiology can be a useful tool for detection of the level of contact in cases when introgression of genes of a common or domestic subspecies/variety might pose a problem for conservation of a threatened species/population.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Prof. Dr. Miha Adamič from the project Conservation Management of Threatened Wildlife Species in Slovenia, who made this study possible, and all collaborators who were of great help in monitoring the traps and during the handling procedures. We thank Dr. Alenka Nemec and Aleksander Jenko from the Clinic for Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Ljubljana. The study was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food technology and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The study was performed in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Slovenia. The animals were captured and handled with the permission of the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia (decisions No. 322-08-8/99 and 322-08-88/02).
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Communicated by F.-J. Kaup
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Račnik, J., Skrbinšek, T., Potočnik, H. et al. Viral infections in wild-living European wildcats in Slovenia. Eur J Wildl Res 54, 767–770 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-008-0202-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-008-0202-y