Geographic Distribution, Prevalence and Diagnostic Methods of Domestic Cat Hepadnavirus (DCH): A Scoping Review

Abstract

\\Domestic cat hepadnavirus (DCH) is a virus first identified in 2018 and classified within the family Hepadnaviridae. This study aimed to summarize the geographical distribution, reported prevalence, and diagnostic methods of DCH infection through a scoping review of the available literature. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify English-language primary research articles published between 2018 and 2025, following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were selected based on predefined criteria and analyzed descriptively by extracting information on study location, sample size, detection methods, and reported prevalence estimates. A total of 26 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The findings indicate that DCH has been reported in multiple countries across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, with most publications originating from Southeast Asia and Europe. Reported prevalence varied widely, ranging from 0.2% to 17.6%, which may be influenced by differences in study design, population characteristics, geographic settings, sampling strategies, and specimen types. Molecular diagnostic approaches, particularly polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), were the most commonly used methods, primarily applied to blood or serum samples, while serological and histopathological approaches were reported less frequently. Overall, the available epidemiological evidence remains heterogeneous and influenced by methodological variability across studies. Therefore, standardization of study design and diagnostic protocols is required to generate more consistent and globally comparable estimates of DCH distribution and prevalence.