Improving Diagnostic and Eliminating Techniques of Bovine Leukemia in the Russian Federation

Abstract

Leukemia occupies a leading place in the structure of infectious diseases of cattle, as it causes significant economic damage to livestock and poses a serious social danger. The dynamics of infection with the bovine leukemia virus (LV) have been studied in the Krasnodar Territory for ten years. A decrease in the level of infection of animals with the bovine leukemia virus was noted at livestock enterprises in the public sector and in breeding farms. In the individual sector, due to an imperfect animal insurance system, farmers try to keep IDT+ animals on their farms. Some progress in reducing the infection of cattle with the leukemia virus in the Krasnodar Territory has been achieved through a whole range of measures. This includes the publication of relevant regulations governing the solution of this problem by the state and regional authorities, the coordination of recreational activities by scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences and employees of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, propaganda work among the population and heads of livestock enterprises, and the introduction by veterinary specialists of modern methods of the early diagnosis of bovine leukemia virus. The order of the Ministry of Agriculture No. 156 dated 03/24/2021 became a timely document to reduce the time of the recovery of cattle from leukemia in Russia. It significantly tightens the requirements to the terms of recovery, regulates the introduction of new methods of the early diagnosis of leukemia. As a part of the implementation of the research topic, the authors proposed a new diagnostic kit for the detection of bovine LV provirus in finished dairy products, which makes it possible to accelerate the identification of infected animals in farms that supply products to dairy plants, and in general, accelerates the elimination of leukemia in Russia.