Milk of Dairy Cows Frequently Contains a Leukemogenic Virus

Abstract

Milk or viable milk cells collected from 24 dairy cattle naturally infected with bovine leukemia virus were inoculated into lambs, which were subsequently examined for the development of infection. With this bioassay, infectious virus was demonstrated in the milk of 17 of the cows. Bovine leukemia virus is leukemogenic in at least two mammalian species, is widespread in commercial dairy herds, and can infect a wide range of hosts in vivo and cells, including human cells, in vitro.