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BLV Testing

Submission Guidelines

Submission Form (PDF)

Get Test Results

Bovine Leukosis (BLV)

  • Blood-borne viral infection with no effective vaccine
  • Negatively impacts production, longevity, and cull value
  • Utilize ELISA analyses and strategic pooling to reduce testing costs
  • Screen cows by ELISA then submit samples from BLV-positive cows for AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR testing
    • The AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR test can identify susceptible cows that have become “Super Shedders,” causing the most risk to uninfected herdmates and youngstock.
Leukosis page

Sample Types

  • Milk, individual (fresh, frozen or preserved)
  • Serum (ELISA)
  • Whole Blood (AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR or ELISA)

WHEN TO USE

  • Test milk at dry-off or freshening
  • Test serum by ELISA on animals over 4 months
  • Test whole blood by AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR at any age
  • Understand your herd’s risk with a BLV Herd Profile. To establish prevalence, test milk samples (DHI or hand-stripped) of the 10-most-recently-fresh cows in the first, second, third and fourth and greater lactation groups.

Results

  • ELISA results available within 5 business days of sample receipt
    • Reported as Positive, Negative or Suspect
    • Suspect ELISA results should be retested
  • AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR results available within 10 business days of sample receipt
    • Reported as High, Moderate, Low, or Undetected with a numeric value indicating the number of BLV copies per white blood cell.
Milk Samples:

  • Animals that are within 7 days of freshening have a high probability of giving false positive results when tested because of the presence of colostral antibodies.
  • A suspect result for the Milk ELISA may indicate carryover from a previous Leukosis positive cow in the milking string and should be retested with a hand-stripped sample.
Test Type Positive Negative Suspect
Milk ELISA >0.3 <0.1 0.1 – 0.3
Blood ELISA >1.0 <0.5 0.5 – 1.0

Price

  • Individual ELISA (milk, blood) $6.50/sample
    • Individual AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR $12/sample
    • Testing billed upon sample receipt
    • $10 sample submission fee per order

    Submit Samples

    Additional Information

    Testing Supplies

    CentralStar’s laboratories provide sample analyses on milk, blood, fecal, and tissue samples for a variety of production, disease and health-related traits. More than 6 million samples are processed annually using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques including infrared spectroscopy, flow cytometry, ELISA, PCR, and more.

    Note: The SS1 qPCR BLV test has been renamed, the AntelBio™️ STRATA-G™️ BLV PCR.

    Diagnostic tests are intended to identify diseases for animal health, and do not determine the “safety” of milk.