A COMPARISON OF SEROLOGICAL TESTS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF ENZOOTIC BOVINE LEUKOSIS AND ERADICATION OF INFECTION FROM A LARGE HERD

The anti-BLV-EIA (Dessau) and immuno-diffusion test were used to detec t and eradicate BLV infection in a large dairy herd comprising 2000 an imals. The testing of 79 cattle which reacted positively once or more to the EIA revealed that the additional use of the IDT was not advanta geous. Other serological tests, with a greater sensitivity than the ID T or the anti-BLV-EIA were used with four selected trial groups of cat tle. An inhibition test and anti-BLV-EIA based on monoclonal antibody to detect the envelope protein gp51 were used. An additional experimen t in sheep was performed for the direct detection of BLV-specific prot ein from short time-cultured lymphocytes. The results of these compari sons are described and discussed.