Preliminary report of familial thymic lymphosarcoma in Holstein calves

Seventy-three cases of the thymic form of leukosis were found in Holstein calves in five departments of France over a period of five months. Most of the calves had been sired by the same bull. The calves were negative for specific antibodies to bovine leukaemia virus. Morphological studies including light and electron-microscopic cytology, and serological and virological studies of 14 of the cases suggest that the disease was transmitted genetically.