Coronavirus antibody detection in cats by computer-assisted kinetics-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (KELA): field studies.
A total of 2238 feline serum samples submitted to the New York State Diagnostic Laboratory over a 1-year period were tested for the presence of coronavirus antibodies, using the computer-assisted, kinetics-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (KELA). Cats from which sera were obtained were categorized by sex, age, breed, and disease status, and variations in mean antibody titers for different sub-classifications within each category were analyzed by computerized statistical analysis. As expected, higher mean antibody titers were recorded for cats with feline infectious peritonitis, and for cats with a recent history of possible coronavirus exposure. However, an unexpected inverse relationship between coronavirus antibody titer and age was also found. Certain cattery-oriented pure breeds appeared to have higher mean antibody titers, because their sample populations contained a higher percentage of younger cats and cats of unknown age-groups which, over-all, had higher mean titers. Taken together, the data substantiated the efficacy of the computer-assisted KELA for routine detection of serum coronavirus antibodies in cats.
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D002415:Cats; D003201:Computers; D003332:Coronaviridae / Q000276:immunology; D003333:Coronaviridae Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male
D000914:Antibodies, Viral