Bovine Leukemia Virus Infection

Dear Colleagues,

Enzootic bovine leukosis caused by the bovine leukemia virus (BLV) has been eradicated in over 20 countries, most of which are in Western Europe. In the last several years there have been major changes in our understanding of BLV epidemiology and major advancements in diagnosis and disease control methods. The purpose of this Topical Collection is to highlight these recent developments. Surveys outside of Europe have shown dramatic increases in BLV prevalence in both beef and dairy cattle. The subclinical impact on milk production, cow lifespan (longevity) and immune function has only recently been documented.  Infected cattle appear predisposed to mastitis and lameness, and animal welfare is clearly negatively affected. BLV DNA has reportedly been associated with human mammary cancer, re-opening public health concerns which were once considered resolved many decades ago. All these developments have spurred an increased interest in controlling BLV in cattle. Many nations now have 30-50% of their cattle infected, so it may be economically impossible for them to follow the traditional method of eradicating BLV by culling all antibody-positive cattle.  Alternative control approaches are being sought such as vaccination, host genetic selection and prevalence reduction through management interventions.  Recent development of qPCR tests to measure BLV proviral load are showing some application in reducing transmission by identifying the most infectious cattle for segregation or culling. Researchers actively engaged in studying BLV epidemiology, immunology, molecular biology, virology, pathology, etc. are enthusiastically encouraged to submit their works to this Topical Collection.

Dr. Tasia M. (Taxis) Kendrick
Prof. Dr. Paul C. Bartlett
Collection Editors

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