Impact of high proviral load on milk production, reproduction and subclinical diseases in dairy cows infected with bovine leukemia virus

IntroductionBovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) prevalence remains high in dairy cattle in North America. Quantifying the proviral load (PVL) in BLV-positive cows can be used to control this disease in herds where BLV is prevalent by focusing culling of high PVL animals to reduce the risk of transmission. The impact of high BLV PVL on dairy cows’ performance is not well established. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of high PVL status on milk production, occurrence of subclinical ketosis or mastitis, or fertility in BLV-infected cows.MethodsTwenty-five herds from the three Maritime provinces in Atlantic Canada were enrolled in this study. BLV infected cows were first identified by individual milk or serum testing. A validated quantitative qPCR was used to quantify the PVL in cows with positive BLV antibody results. Parity, 305-day milk production, annual geometric average somatic cell count, fat-to-protein ratio in milk on the first test post-calving, days in milk at first service, and calving-to-conception interval were collected from DairyComp305 software. Two-level mixed multivariable regression models were used to assess the relationship between BLV PVL and milk production, subclinical mastitis and ketosis and reproduction performance.ResultsHigh PVL was strongly associated with reduced milk production (387 kg and 431 kg) and reproduction performance (calving-to-conception interval lengthened by 50 days and 49 days), and higher odds of subclinical mastitis (Odds ratio = 2.38 and 2.48), when compared to BLVpositive cows with a low PVL and BLV-negative cows, respectively.ConclusionThese results support implementing a control program to prioritize culling high PVL cows.