Bovine leukemia virus and cow longevity in Michigan dairy herds
- 1 March 2013
- journal article
- Published by American Dairy Science Association in Journal of Dairy Science
- Vol. 96 (3), 1591-1597
- https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2012-5930
Abstract
To determine the association between infection with bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and cow longevity, a stratified random sample of 3,849 Holsteins in 112 Michigan dairy herds was followed for an average of 597 d following testing for BLV antibodies with an ELISA milk test. The hazard ratio of 1.23 indicates that BLV-positive cows were 23% more likely than their BLV-negative herd mates to die or be culled during the monitoring period. This result is adjusted for lactation number, which is also positively associated with an increased risk of leaving the herd. Because herd was included in models, the effect of BLV ELISA on cow longevity was a within-herd comparison in which BLV-infected cattle were compared with their uninfected herd mates. The analysis of 4 ELISA optical density (OD) groups demonstrated a dose response such that cows with higher OD values had decreased survival compared with cows with lower OD values. Cows with OD values above 0.5 were at 40% greater risk of dying or being culled than were their uninfected herd mates. These results support the contention that the association of BLV with cow longevity, when added to other economic impacts, may warrant the control of BLV in our US dairy cow population.Keywords
Funding Information
- Elwood Kirkpatrick Dairy Science Research Endowment
- Antel BioSystems Inc
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Herd-level determinants of bovine leukaemia virus prevalence in dairy farmsJournal of Dairy Research, 2012
- Association between bovine leukemia virus, production, and population age in Michigan dairy herdsJournal of Dairy Science, 2012
- Using a Herd Profile to Determine Age-Specific Prevalence of Bovine Leukemia Virus in Michigan Dairy HerdsVeterinary Medicine International, 2012
- BLV-CoCoMo-qPCR: Quantitation of bovine leukemia virus proviral load using the CoCoMo algorithmRetrovirology, 2010
- The eradication experience of enzootic bovine leukosis from LithuaniaPreventive Veterinary Medicine, 2007
- Association between bovine-leukosis virus seroprevalence and herd-level productivity on US dairy farmsPreventive Veterinary Medicine, 2003
- Eradication of enzootic bovine leukosis from FinlandPreventive Veterinary Medicine, 2003
- Provirus Variants of the Bovine Leukemia Virus and Their Relation to the Serological Status of Naturally Infected CattleVirology, 1997
- Milk and fat yields decline in bovine leukemia virus-infected Holstein cattle with persistent lymphocytosis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1993
- The implication of BLV infection in the productivity, reproductive capacity and survival rate of a dairy cowVeterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 1989