No abstract

The bovine leukemia virus is an exogenous retrovirus that causes enzootic bovine leukosis. The aim of this study was to apply and compare a diagnostic test in an outbreak of bovine leukemia virus by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a core conservation of native cattle Guaymí. From the results obtained by the three techniques used, the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test detected 33 positive animals. The nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) tested blood and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) detected more positive animals than AGID with 17 and 30%, respectively. Animals positive to the ELISA and AGID test but negative to nPCR could be attributed to the existence of animals with genotypes of BoLA-DRB3.2 of major histocompatibility complex class II alleles with favorable resistant to bovine leukaemia virus (BLV). The possibility of further studies on resistance against BLV can be done. It is concluded that the ELISA and nPCR are the diagnostic tests of option for BLV.