Abstract
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the etiological agent of enzootic bovine leukosis, which is the most common neoplastic disease of cattle. BLV infects cattle worldwide and causes serious problems for the cattle industry. In this study, we examined the prevalence of BLV infection and the distribution of BLV genotypes in cattle in the northern, central, and southern parts of Myanmar. The prevalence of BLV infection among Myanmar cattle (37.04%) in this study was markedly higher than the prevalence (9.1%) observed in our earlier study in which BLV was detected from the limited number of cattle only from a small area of Myanmar. Phylogenetic analysis of partial env-gp51 sequence of the isolated BLV strains revealed that there are at least three BLV genotypes (genotype-1, genotype-6, and genotype-10) in Myanmar, which have also been detected in the neighboring countries. We performed this study to estimate the BLV proviral load, which is a major diagnosis index for determining the virus transmission risk. The cattle of the three test regions with warm, wet, and humid climatic conditions (upper Sagaing, Yangon, and Kayin) exhibited a high mean proviral load, while cattle of three other regions with low annual rainfall and very high temperature (Mandalay, Magway, and upper Bago) exhibited a low mean proviral load. Further, the level of proviral load and the prevalence of BLV infection in Myanmar native cattle (N = 235) were lower than that in the hybrid cattle (Holstein Friesian × Myanmar native) (N = 62). We also observed that the cattle with high risk for BLV transmission, which have high proviral load, may enhance the BLV infection rate. Hence, to control BLV transmission, it is necessary to eliminate these cattle with high-risk for BLV transmission and to diagnose BLV provirus in cattle in the remaining regions/states of Myanmar sharing a boundary with neighboring countries.
Highlights
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infects cattle worldwide and is the etiologic agent for enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL)
To investigate the prevalence of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection in Myanmar, we collected 297 blood samples of cattle in different farms from 11 townships located in 5 regions and 1 state, which are flanked by Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory (Fig 1)
Out of a total 297 cattle DNA samples from 42 farms throughout Myanmar, 110 samples (37.04% with a 95% confidence interval extends from 31.74% to 42.66%) from 31 farms were positive for BLV provirus, as determined by BLV-CoCoMo-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-2 (Table 1 and Fig 2A)
Summary
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infects cattle worldwide and is the etiologic agent for enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL). BLV has been detected in the human tissues, such as human breast tissue, which suggests a risk for the infection and proliferation of this virus in humans [3]. Majority of the BLV-infected cattle are asymptomatic. 1–5% of the BLV-infected cattle exhibit malignant monoclonal B-cell lymphosarcoma. BLV is transmitted through blood containing infected lymphocytes and through the colostrum and milk. Farm practices such as tattooing, dehorning, rectal palpation, and injection have been associated with BLV transmission [1]. BLV infection rates tend to be high in older cattle populations [11]
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