Lymphosarcoma development in sheep experimentally infected with bovine leukaemia virus

Twelve sheep were experimentally infected with a phytohemagglutinin (PHA) treated short term culture of lymphocytes from a cow naturally infected with BLV at the PL stage. Five of 12 (42%) BLV infected sheep had histologically confirmed lymphosarcoma 10-16 months after infection. The PBL's were increased to leukemic levels 3-21 weeks before death due to lymphoblastic leukemia. Lymphocyte proliferation and appearance of immature lymphocytes and lymphoblastic cells in the blood were a characteristic feature of tumour development following inoculation with an Australian strain of BLV. In contrast to a number of previous studies the peripheral lymph nodes of all infected sheep were clinically normal throughout the experimental period but at death gross tumours were evident in the mesentric lymph nodes and the heart in all cases. All the other lymph nodes, liver, spleen, kidney and lung were histologically infiltrated with lymphoid tumour cells. Gross tumours were present in the abomasum (1 out of 5) in the urinary tract (2 out of 5) and in the uterus (1 out of 2). The majority of the tumour cells isolated from the various tissues were centroblastic demonstrating that the malignant leukemia in experimentally infected sheep was of a multicentric centroblastic type. The central nervous system was not involved in any case.