DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO BOVINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS IN RANDOMLY SELECTED CATTLE IN OKLAHOMA USING TWO SEROLOGICAL TESTS

The incidence of antibodies to bovine leukemia virus in sera of cattle from Oklahoma was determined using the agar-gel immunodiffusion test and a rapid syncytia inhibition assay and the sensitivities of the two tests compared. Of the 500 sera samples from randomly selected cattle, 142 (28.4%) were positive by the rapid syncytia inhibition assay and 137 (27%) positive by the agar-gel immunodiffusion test. The incidence of antibodies to bovine leukemia in five herds of cattle (384) with known cases of lymphosarcoma was considerably higher; 165 (43%) were found positive by the rapid syncytia inhibition assay whereas 152 (40%) were found positive by the agar-gel immunodiffusion test. Out of 111 sera samples sent to the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory to be tested for presence of BLV antibodies, 47 (42%) were positive by agar-gel immunodiffusion test and 45 (41%) positive by the rapid syncytia inhibition assay. A good correlation between the results of the two tests for detection of antibodies to bovine leukemia virus was seen; they showed complete agreement of results in 97.8 % of the cattle