Failure to demonstrate transmission of enzootic bovine leukemia virus infection from cows to sheep by use of common injection needles.

Four bovine leukemia virus (BLV)-seropositive and 2 BLV-seronegative cows were used as donors in a study to provide evidence whether IM injection with common needles is a means of spreading bovine leukemia. Sheep were used as recipients. Of the 4 BLV-seropositive cows, 2 had high virus expression (VE; 43% and 28% of their lymphocyte thin sections had associated BLV-particles), whereas the other 2 cows did not have observed VE. After each of the 4 cows was given an injection of a 5-antigen Leptospira bacterin, a BLV-seronegative sheep was immediately given an injection of the same bacterin with the same needle. None of these sheep seroconverted, nor did either of 2 sheep given only the bacterin (with a previously unused needle). Sheep inoculated IM with 0.2 ml of whole blood from both of the cows with high VE and from 1 of the 2 BLV-seropositive cows that did not have observed VE did seroconvert. In contrast, the sheep inoculated with 0.2 ml of blood from the remaining BLV-seropositive (0% VE) cow and from the 2 BLV-seronegative cows remained seronegative. These results were interpreted to indicate that the quantity of infective lymphocytes passed during injection with common needles is too small to induce infection.