About FIV

FIV belongs to the genus Lentivirus and is a significant feline pathogen that is found in cats worldwide. We believe that FIV research has immense comparative value as well as being an important area for veterinary research. Both FIV and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share a similar structure, life cycle and pathogenesis. Like human beings infected with HIV, FIV-infected cats may progress from the primary acute phase, through a variable latent phase until finally developing AIDS in the terminal phase of infection. It is our hope that our studies of FIV in its natural host, the domestic cat, will impact upon human medicine, as well as improving the welfare of our feline patients.

FIV infected cats may live for many years with good management, having semi-annual check-ups and avoiding exposure to infectious agents that may cause clinical disease and may lead to progression of FIV infection. However, isolates of FIV are highly variable and this variability may influence disease progression and hinder vaccine efficacy.

Hence, understanding the variability amongst FIV isolates is important to enable the development of vaccines that will afford protection against the entire repertoire of currently circulating viruses in the field. Furthermore, understanding how the virus evolves is important in determining the events which contribute to disease progression, as viruses isolated from cats before they develop clinical signs (early isolates) appear to have different properties from cats in the terminal AIDS phase (late isolates). Detailed characterization of early and late isolates would allow vaccines to be developed against early isolates that are most likely to be transmitted.