Bovine Leukosis Testing

AntelBio says that ELISA testing for bovine leukosis virus (BLV) in serum and milk will be available this month.While BLV traditionally has been considered of limited economic significance, recent assessments of BLV prevalence indicate that years of inattention has resulted in nearly 89 percent of dairy herds harboring BLV infection, with approximately 43 percent of cows in these herds infected. Because a majority of BLV-positive animals do not develop clinical symptoms, the most significant costs of BLV typically are associated with lost marketing opportunities, particularly for producers interested in the sale of replacement stock, bulls to artificial insemination or embryos. Additional costs attributed to clinical or subclinical infection often are difficult to determine, but carcass condemnation because of leukosis tumors, resulting in total loss of salvage value, has been estimated as high as 50 percent of total condemnations at slaughter facilities, the company says.AntelBio is a United States Department of Agriculture-accredited laboratory specializing in diagnostic analysis of milk samples. AntelBio currently offers Johnes disease testing via fecal culture, serum ELISA, the AntelBio Rapid Fecal Test and the AntelBio Johnes Milk ELISA.

For fastest response call (800) 631-3510 or visit the Web site at www.antelbio.com.