infantumantibody positivity detected by IFAT, and the ORs of strata for selected covariates in FIV and IFATL

infantumantibody positivity detected by IFAT, and the ORs of strata for selected covariates in FIV and IFATL. The association of FIV seropositivity withL. infantumantibody positivity was confirmed in the univariable model of logistic regression. A multivariate model found FIV infection andL. infantumPCR positivity as predictors of a positiveL. infantumIFAT result. Male outdoor cats from rural or suburban areas were at risk for FIV andL. infantumantibody positivity. Clinical signs more frequently associated with IDH1 the coinfection were oral lesions, pale mucous membranes and low body condition score (BCS). == Conclusions == This study documents that FIV seropositive cats with no hematological abnormalities suggestive of an advanced stage of FIV infection are more prone to beL. infantumseroreactive by IFAT in endemic areas. Therefore, FIV seropositive cats should be tested forL. infantumantibodies and treated for preventing sand fly bites. Pale mucous membranes, low BCS and oral lesions but no CBC abnormalities were significantly associated with the coinfection. == Graphical abstract == == Supplementary Information == The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-022-05230-w. Keywords:Feline immunodeficiency virus, Leishmaniosis, Feline retrovirus, Coinfection, Risk factors, Logistic models, Polymerase chain reaction, Indirect fluorescent antibody technique == Background == Leishmaniosis is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoa of theLeishmaniagenus transmitted by sand fly bites.Leishmania infantumis the most widespread species and is of zoonotic concern, with dogs considered the main domestic reservoir in endemic areas. However, other domestic and wild animals are reported to be infectious to sand flies [1]. In recent years, an increasing number of case reports of feline leishmaniosis (FeL) and subclinical infections caused byL. infantumwere documented in endemic areas of the Mediterranean basin [2], and FeL is considered an emerging feline disease [3]. Many studies have confirmed that felineL. infantuminfection is not negligible in areas where canine leishmaniosis is endemic [2]. However, different levels of endemicity and type of population under study or differences in diagnostic methodologies may be responsible for the high variability in antibody or molecular prevalences reported in published studies [2]. Investigations have been performed onL. infantumprevalence in cats in Southern Italy for a long time, reporting an antibody prevalence between 6.9 and 59% [410] and a molecular prevalence between 1.3 and 61% [5,79,11,12]. In Spain, the antibody prevalence reported ranges between 3.2 and 4.8% in the Madrid area [1316], between 2.2 and 16% in the northeast [1719] and 28.3% in the south of the country [20]. The molecular prevalence reported Tyrosine kinase-IN-1 ranges between 0 and 0.43% in the Madrid area [1316], between 3 and 26% in the northeast [6,1719,21] and 25.7% in the south of the country [20]. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a retrovirus distributed in feline populations worldwide and associated with adult, male and free-roaming cats because the main transmission path is via biting [22]. Prevalence rates of FIV positivity are therefore influenced by the characteristics of populations under study, and surveys reporting FIV prevalence in the same area of South Italy investigated in the present study found a wide range of positivity, between 7.6 Tyrosine kinase-IN-1 and 37% [6,8,23]. FIV prevalence studies available from various regions of Spain reported ranges between 5.1 and 20.9% [1315,17,19,24,25]. Among risk factors for felineL. infantuminfection, co-infection with feline immunodeficiency virus Tyrosine kinase-IN-1 is the most investigated. Many studies found a significant association between FIV andL. infantumpositivity in cats [5,9,10,12,19,2628]. However, other studies did not document this association [8,14,17,20,2932]. Therefore, the association between FIV andL. infantuminfection in cats remains unclear. The aims of the present study were to assess whether FIV andL. infantuminfections are associated in cats living in canine leishmaniosis endemic areas of South Italy (Calabria and Sicily) and Spain (Catalonia and Andalusia) and to investigate clinical signs and hematological abnormalities associated with this coinfection. == Methods == == Study design, cat characteristics and selection == A retrospective matched casecontrol study was carried out. Feline immunodeficiency virus seropositive (cases) and FIV seronegative (controls) cats were selected from our research database if they were evaluated by physical examination and tested for FIV as well as forL. infantumby IFAT and PCR in blood, conjunctival and oral swabs with the same methodology. A population of 705 cats studied between 2012 and 2019 was examined. The assumptions were: alpha < 5%, power 80%,.