A 13-year retrospective study on the serologic diagnosis of bovine leukemia virus in samples from Southern Brazil at the Virology Section, UFSM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2025v46n5p1665Keywords:
Bovine leukosis, Persistent infection, Serologic diagnostic, ELISA, AGID.Abstract
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a widespread oncogenic Deltaretrovirus responsible for significant economic losses in the global dairy industry and remains endemic in Brazilian cattle. This 13-year retrospective study (2011–2023) reports serologic BLV diagnoses conducted at the Virology Section, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The dataset comprised 11,727 cattle from 1,086 herds (mostly dairy) across 189 counties in three states forming Brazil’s second-largest dairy basin: Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Santa Catarina (SC), and Paraná (PR). Samples were tested using agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Overall, animal seroprevalence was 38.1% (4,467/11,727) and herd prevalence 64.5% (700/1,086). The three states showed similar animal prevalence rates 39.1% in RS, 37.6% in SC, and 35.9% in PR with herd prevalence of 63.5%, 65.2%, and 67.2%, respectively. Both animal and herd seroprevalence exhibited an upward trend from 2011 (19.6% and 57.5%) to 2023 (60.4% and 73.8%). These findings confirm the continued widespread circulation of BLV in dairy herds across Southern Brazil and highlight the need for official and/or voluntary control measures to mitigate infection prevalence and associated economic losses.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Natália Hettwer Pedroso, Juciane Bonella , Graziela Lau Santiago, Iasmim Flôres Dionisio, Nathana Olivia Heydt Bednarski , Rudi Weiblen, Eduardo Furtado Flores
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