Frontiers in Veterinary Science (Jan 2023)

Diagnosis and phylogenetic analysis of bovine leukemia virus in dairy cattle in northeastern Brazil

  • José Gomes Pereira,
  • Cândida de Assunção Silva,
  • Lucas Diniz Silva,
  • Cristian Alex Aquino Lima,
  • Carla Janaina Rebouças Marques do Rosário,
  • Ellainy Maria Conceição Silva,
  • Maria do Socorro Costa Oliveira,
  • Larissa Sarmento dos Santos Ribeiro,
  • Hamilton Pereira Santos,
  • Ana Lucia Abreu-Silva,
  • Ferdinan Almeida Melo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1080994
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) is a chronic viral disease of wide distribution in cattle herds and may take several years for the first manifestation of clinical signs. Most animals do not present clinical signs. However, the economic losses are underestimated due to this disease. Thus, this work aimed to detect and characterize BLV in dairy cattle in the Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil. Blood samples were collected from 176 animals from 8 municipalities in the southeastern state of Maranhão. Bovine blood samples were subjected to DNA extraction and molecular diagnosis using nested PCR assays for BLV, targeting gp51 gene. Positive samples were then sequenced and then subjected to phylogenetic inferences. BLV DNA was detected in 16 cattle (16/176, 9.09%) in 4 municipalities. Phylogenetic analyzes showed that the sequence obtained clustered in a clade containing BLV sequences classified as genotype 6, with a high degree of support. Our data shows BLV occurrence in the Northeast of Brazil and the identification of genotype 6 in this region. These findings contribute to the molecular epidemiology of this agent in Brazil.

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