Abstract
FELINE leukaemia virus (FeLV) is aetiologically involved in naturally occurring lymphomas and leukaemias of cats. The transmission of this oncogenic virus as an infectious agent within domestic cat populations has been well-established (see ref. 1 for review). Recent studies have emphasised that, in addition to leukaemic animals, apparently healthy FeLV-infected cats may excrete high titres of infectious virus2. The close environmental association of cats and man, and the known infectivity of FeLV for human cells in tissue culture3,4, have raised obvious questions concerning the likelihood of horizontal transmission of this virus to humans, and the possibility that FeLV may play a part in human disease. The availability of highly sensitive and specific radioimmunological techniques for the detection of antibodies to, and antigens of, FeLV has made it possible to systematically assess human populations, including those which might be considered to be most at risk, for immunological evidence of exposure to this oncogenic agent. In the study reported here we found no evidence of FeLV infection in man.
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