Molecular detection of bovine leukemia virus in peripheral blood of Iranian cattle, camel and sheep

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a deltaretrovirus which infects and induces proliferation of B-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood circulation and in lymphoid organs primarily of cattle, leading to leukemia/lymphoma. This study was carried out to investigate the presence of BLV in cattle, sheep and camels from the Chaharmahal va Bakhtiary and Isfahan provinces in Iran. A total of 874 blood samples collected from cattle, sheep and camels were used in this study to detect BLV using a nested-PCR. The results from this study indicated that 17.2% (n=874) of all blood samples collected were positive for BLV. The percentages of blood samples positive for BLV from cattle, sheep and camels were 22.1 (n=657), 5.3 (n=95) and 0 (n=122) respectively. The results from this study showed that BLV infected cattle and sheep. Camels seemed to be resistant to BLV infection. This study contributes to the nationwide effort to obtain baseline information on the prevalence of BLV, which will assist in planning the control strategy for the disease in Iran.