Feline Immunodeficiency Virus - Vaccine

Vaccine

As with HIV, the development of an effective vaccine against FIV is difficult because of the high number and variations of the virus strains. "Single strain" vaccines, i.e. vaccines that only protect against a single virus variant, have already demonstrated a good efficacy against homologous FIV strains. A dual-subtype vaccine for FIV released in 2002 called Fel-O-Vax (ATCvet code: QI06AA10) made it possible to immunize cats against more FIV strains. It was developed using inactivated isolates of two of the five FIV subtypes (or clades): A Petaluma and D Shizuoka. The vaccine was shown to be moderately protective (82% of cats were protected) against subtype A FIV, but a later study showed it to offer no protection against subtype A. It has shown 100% effectiveness against two different subtype B FIV strains. Vaccination will cause cats to have positive results on FIV tests, making diagnosis more difficult. For these reasons the vaccine is considered "non-core", and the decision to vaccinate should be made after discussion with a veterinarian and consideration of the risks vs. the effectiveness.

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