Goat lymphosarcoma from bovine leukemia virus.

A goat given inoculations of sheep lymphocytes from cultures that produced bovine leukemia virus (BLV) died 8 years later with lymphosarcoma. The tumors were located in various lymph nodes, the mesentery, omentum, body wall, and retrobulbar tissues. The BLV had been cultured from lymphocytes during the first year after the goat's infection, and persisting BLV antibodies could be demonstrated when the animal was 7.5 years old. BLV provirus was identified by molecular hybridization in the DNA of the goat tumors at the above five locations. The tumors were similar to those found in lymphosarcoma of the adult bovine type (BLV associated). Normal goat liver, normal calf thymus, and calf-type lymphosarcoma (not BLV associated) served as negative controls. Our serologic, histologic, and molecular hybridization studies are evidence that the lymphosarcoma was induced BLV.