Establishment of control measure for bovine leukemia based on risk analysis of virus transmission

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23248051
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Clinical veterinary science
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: KONNAI SATORU 北海道大学, (連合)獣医学研究科, 准教授 (40396304)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OHASHI Kazuhiko 北海道大学, 大学院獣医学研究科, 教授 (90250498) ; MURATA Shiro 北海道大学, 大学院獣医学研究科, 助教 (10579163)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-11-18 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 牛白血病 / 牛白血病ウイルス / 伝播リスク / ウイルス定量 / 清浄化モデル / プロウイルス / リンパ球数 / 免疫抑制

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) causes enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) in cattle and represents a serious problem in Japanese meat and dairy industries. In this study, BLV from newly infected cattle was characterized to determine the virus source in a herd and a vector control measure was used to prevent the spread of the infection. The env sequences from positive conversion cattle showed 100% nucleotide identity with the sequence from the PL cattle with high provirus, suggesting that animals may serve as a reservoir of BLV infection. In the farms, where many blood-feeding stable flies were observed, vector control performed using a combination of insect repellents was very efficient as no new cases of BLV infection were observed after the treatment. This study indicates that BLV-infected cattle with high virus is one of high risk factors for the transmission, and vector-borne transmission might have been the major transmission route in the farm.

Free Research Field

臨床獣医学