USDA approves first FIV vaccine

Fort Dodge Animal Health announces it has received a license from theU.S. Department of Agriculture to produce the first vaccine for feline immunodeficiencyvirus (FIV). The dual-subtype vaccine should be available this summer.

Dr.Niels Pedersen, director of the Center for Companion Animal Health, andimmunologist Dr. Janet Yamamoto, a professor at University of Florida'sCollege of Veterinary Medicine, first isolated FIV in cats in 1986 at theUniversity of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Yamamotohas worked with Fort Dodge researchers for more than a decade to developthe vaccine. "The vaccine itself is truly international in that itis composed of virus strains of two different subtypes, one from North Americaand one from Asia," Yamamoto says. "The use of vaccine strainsfrom different subtypes originating from different regions of the worldwas a goal of our research team. We knew from studies performed by FIV researchersworldwide that many subtypes can be found globally and FIV changes and mutateswithin the body."

Usually fatal, FIV is primarily transmitted throughbite wounds between cats as the virus is present at high levels in saliva.Like human AIDS, the virus attacks the body's immune system, making theanimal susceptible to diseases and infections that would have little effecton an FIV-free animal.

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