Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ucla-cs!mtxinu!sybase!alchemy!jeffw@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
From: mtxinu!sybase!alchemy!jeffw@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Jeffrey Ward)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Re: Feline Aids
Message-ID: <25617@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 11 Jul 89 15:00:28 GMT
References: <25573@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: mtxinu!alchemy!jeffw@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Jeffrey Ward)
Organization: Sybase, Inc.
Lines: 21
Approved: aids@cs.ucla.edu
Archive-number: 1083

I suspect that the recent discussion of feline AIDS refers in fact
to a disease that has been known as "feline leukemia" as well.
This disease is actually neither AIDS-related nor leukemia-related,
and the names reflect the symptoms of the disease rather than the
cause.  The actual disease is Feline Infectious Peritonitis, and
it gradually destroys the body's ability to replace or produce
various blood components, resulting in leukemia-like symptoms and
a gradual loss of immunological defenses.  Cats infected with FIP
often develop cancerous tumors.

The etiology of the disease is well-known and has little use for
AIDS research.  It is incurable although it can go into remission.
I don't know why some veterinarians insist on using inappropriate
analogies when describing animal diseases.

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