Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2

Giovambattista, Guillermo; Bao, Aronggaowa; Marcuzzi, Olivia; Vega, Ariel Loza; Rico, Juan Antonio Pereira; Ortega Masague, Maria Florencia; Rojas, Liz Aurora Castro; Martinez, Ruben Dario; Reinosa, Odalys Uffo; Aida, Yoko

doi:10.3390/pathogens14101005

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Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2

by

Guillermo Giovambattista

^1,2,*,†,

Aronggaowa Bao

^2,†

,

Olivia Marcuzzi

¹

,

Ariel Loza Vega

³

,

Juan Antonio Pereira Rico

³,

Maria Florencia Ortega Masague

⁴

,

Liz Aurora Castro Rojas

⁵

,

Ruben Dario Martinez

⁶,

Odalys Uffo Reinosa

⁷

and

Yoko Aida

^2,*

¹

Instituto de Genética Veterinaria “Ingeniero Fernando N. Dulout” (UNLP-CONICET LA PLATA), Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias UNLP, Av. 60 y 118 S/N, La Plata 1900, Argentina

²

Laboratory of Global Infectious Diseases Control Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan

³

Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno, Santa Cruz de la Sierra 00591, Bolivia

⁴

Agencia de Extensión Rural (AER Lules-EEA Famaillá), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Ruta Provincial 301 km 32, Tucumán 4132, Argentina

⁵

Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Acceso Avda. Mcal. Lopez a Campus UNA, San Lorenzo 111421, Paraguay

⁶

Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Av. Juan XXIII y Ruta Provincial Nº 4, Lomas de Zamora 1832, Argentina

⁷

Centro Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (CENSA), Carretera de Jamaica y Autopista Nacional, San José de las Lajas, La Habana 32700, Cuba

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Pathogens 2025, 14(10), 1005; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14101005 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 19 August 2025 / Revised: 22 September 2025 / Accepted: 30 September 2025 / Published: 4 October 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Gen Sequencing Advances Pathogen Research in Health, Agriculture & Environment)

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Abstract

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV), an oncogenic retrovirus of the genus Deltaretrovirus, causes enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), the most prevalent neoplastic disease in cattle and a major source of economic loss. While BLV prevalence has been studied in commercial breeds, data on native Latin American cattle remain limited. This study assessed BLV infection and proviral load in 244 animals from six native breeds: Argentine Creole (CrAr), Patagonian Argentine Creole (CrArPat), Pampa Chaqueño Creole (CrPaCh), Bolivian Creole from Cochabamba (CrCoch), Saavedreño Creole (CrSaa), and Siboney (Sib), sampled across Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Cuba. BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2 assay detected BLV provirus in 76 animals (31.1%), with a mean load of 9923 copies per 10⁵ cells (range: 1–79,740). Infection rates varied significantly by breed (9.8% in CrAr to 83.8% in CrPaCh) and country (15.6% in Argentina to 83.8% in Paraguay) (p = 9.999 × 10⁻⁵). Among positives, 57.9% exhibited low proviral load (≤1000 copies), and 13.2% showed moderate levels (1001–9999), suggesting potential resistance to EBL progression. This is the first comprehensive report of BLV proviral load in Creole cattle across Latin America, offering novel epidemiological insights and highlighting the importance of native breeds in BLV surveillance.

Keywords: bovine leukemia virus (BLV); deltaretrovirus; endogenous retrovirus (ERV); molecular epidemiology; BLV epidemiology

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MDPI and ACS Style

Giovambattista, G.; Bao, A.; Marcuzzi, O.; Vega, A.L.; Rico, J.A.P.; Ortega Masague, M.F.; Rojas, L.A.C.; Martinez, R.D.; Reinosa, O.U.; Aida, Y. Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2. Pathogens 2025, 14, 1005. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14101005

AMA Style

Giovambattista G, Bao A, Marcuzzi O, Vega AL, Rico JAP, Ortega Masague MF, Rojas LAC, Martinez RD, Reinosa OU, Aida Y. Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2. Pathogens. 2025; 14(10):1005. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14101005

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giovambattista, Guillermo, Aronggaowa Bao, Olivia Marcuzzi, Ariel Loza Vega, Juan Antonio Pereira Rico, Maria Florencia Ortega Masague, Liz Aurora Castro Rojas, Ruben Dario Martinez, Odalys Uffo Reinosa, and Yoko Aida. 2025. "Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2" Pathogens 14, no. 10: 1005. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14101005

APA Style

Giovambattista, G., Bao, A., Marcuzzi, O., Vega, A. L., Rico, J. A. P., Ortega Masague, M. F., Rojas, L. A. C., Martinez, R. D., Reinosa, O. U., & Aida, Y. (2025). Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2. Pathogens, 14(10), 1005. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14101005

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Detection of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Argentine, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Cuban Native Cattle Using a Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay-BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR-2

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