Research overview: serological cross-reactivity challenges in felid disease diagnostics

Interpreting antibody tests in wild felids is complicated by cross-reactivity, where antibodies to one pathogen react with tests for a related agent, blurring diagnoses. This overview surveys the diagnostic challenges posed by cross-reactivity in felid serology, including confusion among related coronaviruses, lentivirus strains and other pathogen groups, and the consequences for estimating exposure and prevalence. It examines how researchers address these issues through confirmatory testing, molecular methods and careful test validation, and why naive application of domestic-cat assays to wild species can mislead. The synthesis connects laboratory methodology to epidemiological inference. It aims to help readers understand that the antibody data underpinning much of felid disease knowledge carry interpretive pitfalls, and that rigorous diagnostics are essential to avoid drawing false conclusions about which pathogens wild cats have truly encountered.