Interactions between bovine retroviruses and the host immune system

ix CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Dissertation Organization 1 Research Sunnnnary 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW: IMMUNOPATHOGENESIS OF BOVINE IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS AND BOVINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS INFECTIONS IN CATTLE 3 Introduction 3 General nature of retroviruses 3 Retroviruses and the host immune system 5 Discovery of bovine retroviruses 6 Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus (BIV) 7 BIV genetics and replication 7 Host immune responses to BIV infection 9 Prevalence of BIV infection 10 Studies of BIV pathogenesis 11 Effects of BIV infection on the host immune system 14 Summary 17 Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) 17 General virology 17 Clinical manifestations of BLV infection 20 Host immune responses to BLV infection 22 Detection and prevalence of BLV infection 24