Economics of bovine leukemia virus infection.

A herd infected with bovine leukemia virus suffers a direct economic loss due to clinical lymphosarcoma. A major indirect cost associated with infection is restriction of the sale of animals and germplasma to foreign markets. Reports on the economic effects of infection on production have been variable and are reviewed in this article. In order to develop cost-effective bovine leukemia virus control programs, costs associated with the disease, the cost of prevention, and expected economic returns from a program need to be considered.