The latest studies of a relatively new and potentially powerful small-animal model for human AIDS will be the focus of an international conference Sept. 4-7 hosted by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. About 200 researchers from more than one dozen countries are expected to attend the four-day meeting. Organizers say it is the first international conference devoted specifically to the AIDS-like disease in cats caused by the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Researchers will discuss various aspects of feline AIDS, including the clinical course of the disease, the transmission of viral infection, the possible mechanisms of immunodeficiency at the molecular and cellular levels, chemotherapy, and vaccines. So far, only cats and non-human primates appear to offer good models for studying AIDS-like diseases. Cats, the newest animal model for human AIDS, may become more important in understanding how AIDS-like viruses cause disease and for testing drugs, therapies and vaccines. "This research is also going to benefit the cat," says UC Davis veterinary medical professor Dr. Niels C. Pedersen, whose research group discovered FIV five years ago. "These are two species that are battling similar diseases together."