M. V. Petropavlovskiy, I. M. Donnik, A. S. Badretdinova, N. A. Martynov, A. G. Isaeva
Ural Federal Agrarian Research Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg, Russia
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Volume 25 No. 10
Date of paper submission: 23.07.2025, date of review: 01.09.2025, date of acceptance: 04.09.2025.
Published: 10/31/2025
Abstract. The purpose is to study the effectiveness of PCR diagnostics of BLV in the conditions of the real epizootic process: sensitivity, integration of methods and ways of optimization. Materials and methods. Extensive comparative studies on the efficacy of commercial PCR test systems were conducted under actual epizootic progression conditions across 5 regions of the Russian Federation and 2 regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Results. Despite the well-documented high specificity and sensitivity of PCR in detecting infectious disease pathogens, our comprehensive comparative analysis of biomaterial samples from different sex-age groups of cattle in BLV-affected agricultural enterprises revealed an 11.5 % rate of false-negative PCR results. The suboptimal performance of commercial test kits may be attributed to low proviral load in individual animals, which can be confirmed through supplementary molecular genetic analyses of samples. Another contributing factor involves the pathogen’s genetic variability. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of molecular genetic (PCR) methods for diagnostics the bovine leukemia virus, combined with the monitoring of genetically variable strains. The establishment and subsequent overcoming of the identified limitations of these methods make it possible to increase the accuracy of identifying infected animals, reliably assess the scale of the infection spread, and enhance the disease control system.
Keywords: cattle, bovine leukemia virus (BLV), PCR diagnostics, ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), genetic variability, test system
Acknowledgements. The study was carried out as part of State Assignment No. 0532-2021-0007.
For citation: Petropavlovskiy M. V., Donnik I. M., Badretdinova A. S., Martynov N. A., Isaeva A. G. Limitations of the efficiency of PCR diagnostics of bovine leukemia virus in conditions of a real epizootic process. Agrarian Bulletin of the Urals. 2025; 25 (10): 1665‒1671. https://doi.org/10.32417/1997-4868-2025-25-10-1665-1671 (In Russ.)
Download the full text of the article
