Five sheep were experimentally infected with bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). All animals seroconverted to BIV p26 core protein by 6 weeks after inoculation and developed persistent lymphocytosis. Proviral DNA has been continually detected only in one sheep and temporarily present in other two animals. All attempts to rescue the BIV from peripheral blood leukocytes of uninfected sheep have failed during experiment. The established model of bovine lentivirus infection in sheep provides valuable data to examine the pathogenesis of BIV and related retroviral infections.
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