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SUMMARY Pairs of newborn calves were exposed to bovine leukemia virus (blv) when they were given their 1st colostrum feeding. Calves that were given 106 blv-infected lymphocytes in colostrum free of blv-specific antibody became infected. Calves that were fed 107, 108, or 109 infected lymphocytes in colostrum that contained blv-specific antibody did not become infected. One of 2 calves inoculated intradermally with 250,000 infected lymphocytes was protected by colostral antibody, but the other was not. Colostral antibody titers in the unprotected calf decreased normally until the calf was 4 months old and then increased markedly; this pattern indicates that the presence of colostral antibody may have prolonged the latent period of the blv infection.
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Maaten et al. (1981) studied this question.
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