Adenovirus infection in cats. An epidemiological survey in the Czech Republic

The widespread presence of adenoviruses in various species makes it probabl e that a carrier state and infection also exist in cars; this could be prov ed earlier. On the basis of these considerations investigations were carrie d out to perform an epidemiological survey in 100 randomly selected feline sera from the Czech Republic. Antibody detection was carried out in a group -specific indirect ELISA employing purified adenovirus hexon antigen. The a denovirus seropositivity was found to be 25% among the samples tested. Dome stic short-haired cats (28%)and females (34%) showed increased infection ra tes. Among the 6 retrovirus-infected cats 3 males with outdoor access were seropositive. Cats showing respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms gave h igh prevalence. These results are similar to those found in other species a nd feline populations and reflect on the natural adenovirus infection of ca ts in the Czech Republic.