F. Courchamp et al., POPULATION-DYNAMICS OF FELINE-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS WITHIN CAT POPULATIONS, Journal of theoretical biology, 175(4), 1995, pp. 553-560
A deterministic model was constructed for studying the circulation of
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), a feline retrovirus homologous to
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), within populations of domestic ca
ts. The model has been tested with data generated by a long-term study
of several natural cat populations. Simulations and a study of stabil
ity show that once introduced, the retrovirus is maintained within the
population, with a stable equilibrium stage reached by both numbers o
f susceptible and infected individuals. An estimation of parameters in
dicates that the transmission rate is low and depends of the structure
of the population. In addition, FIV has a low impact on the populatio
n in that the total number of cats at equilibrium when this virus is p
resent is almost always equal to the habitat carrying capacity in the
absence of the virus. Those results, in agreement with other observati
ons, suggest that FIV originally arose in the distant past. (C) 1995 A
cademic Press Limited