Hardy W D, Hess P W, MacEwen E G, McClelland A J, Zuckerman E E, Essex M, Cotter S M, Jarrett O
Cancer Res. 1976 Feb;36(2 pt 2):582-8.
The feline leukemia virus (FeLV) was discovered in 1964 in a cluster of cats with lymphosarcoma. The observed clustering of cases of feline lymphosarcoma suggested that FeLV was an infectious agent for cats. The development of a simple immunofluorescent test for FeLV permitted a seroepidemiological study to be undertaken on the distribution of the virus in cats living in their natural environment. Over 2000 cats were tested, and the results showed conclusively that FeLV is an infectious agent for cats. This finding has now been independently confirmed using three different test procedures. After the infectious nature of FeLV was discovered, a simple FeLV test and removal program was devised to control the spread of the virus in the natural environment. The spread of FeLV was controlled in 45 households by removing the FeLV-infected cats, while in 25 households, where the infected cats were left in contact with the uninfected cats, 12% of the uninfected cats became infected. The ultimate control of FeLV awaits the development of an effective FeLV vaccine, which now seems feasible since we have already experimentally immunized some cats with attenuated FeLV. Although FeLV is infectious for cats there is no evidence that FeLV can infect humans.
猫白血病病毒（FeLV）于1964年在一群患有淋巴肉瘤的猫中被发现。观察到的猫淋巴肉瘤病例聚集现象表明FeLV是猫的一种传染因子。针对FeLV的一种简单免疫荧光检测方法的开发，使得能够对生活在自然环境中的猫体内该病毒的分布情况进行血清流行病学研究。对2000多只猫进行了检测，结果确凿地表明FeLV是猫的一种传染因子。这一发现现已通过三种不同的检测程序得到独立证实。在发现FeLV的传染性之后，设计了一个简单的FeLV检测和清除计划，以控制该病毒在自然环境中的传播。通过清除感染FeLV的猫，在45户家庭中控制了FeLV的传播，而在25户家庭中，感染的猫与未感染的猫接触，12%的未感染猫被感染。FeLV的最终控制有待于一种有效的FeLV疫苗的开发，由于我们已经用减毒的FeLV对一些猫进行了实验性免疫，现在看来这是可行的。虽然FeLV对猫具有传染性，但没有证据表明FeLV能感染人类。
