Class I antigens of the bovine major histocompatibility system are weakly associated with variation in faecal worm egg counts in naturally infected cattle.

Three bulls selected for high faecal worm egg counts and three bulls selected for low faecal worm egg counts were mated to Africander-Hereford cross cows. Faecal worm egg counts were taken on four occasions from the 132 offspring. Also, each animal was typed for 32 class I antigens of the bovine major histocompatibility system (BoLA). Least squares analysis of variance showed that line, sex and some of the antigens were associated with differences in worm egg output in the faeces. After adjusting for the effects of line and sex, cattle with antigen W9 had about twice as many worm eggs in their faeces as cattle without W9; cattle with antigen CA45 had about half the concentration of faecal worm eggs as cattle without CA45. However, the antigen associations were of borderline significance at the 5% level and more work in additional populations is necessary to confirm these associations.