Preventive and Therapeutic Strategies for Bovine Leukemia Virus: Lessons for HTLV

• Main Authors: Lucas Vagnoni, Fanny Boulanger, Gerónimo Gutiérrez, Karina Trono, Irene Alvarez, Mathieu Boxus, María Teresa Sánchez-Alcaraz, Nicolas Gillet, Alix De Brogniez, Arnaud Florins, Sabrina M. Rodríguez, Luc Willems
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2011-07-01
• Series: Viruses
• Subjects: BLV; therapeutics; vaccines; epigenetic; eradication; control
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/3/7/1210/

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a retrovirus closely related to the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). BLV is a major animal health problem worldwide causing important economic losses. A series of attempts were developed to reduce prevalence, chiefly by eradication of infected cattle, segregation of BLV-free animals and vaccination. Although having been instrumental in regions such as the EU, these strategies were unsuccessful elsewhere mainly due to economic costs, management restrictions and lack of an efficient vaccine. This review, which summarizes the different attempts previously developed to decrease seroprevalence of BLV, may be informative for management of HTLV-1 infection. We also propose a new approach based on competitive infection with virus deletants aiming at reducing proviral loads.