The aim of this study was to verify if rats of the Holtzman strain can be infected with the enzootic bovine leukosis virus (VLB) when they receive blood and colostrum inocula from bovines infected by the virus via orally and intraperitoneally. This is to find new species of animals that can be used in bioassays and that provide management facilities compared to the ovine species. For this, 28 rats of the Holtzman strain were used plus 8 crossbred sheep that were used as a control group. The 28 rats were distributed into three experimental groups: i) 8 rats inoculated with blood intraperitoneally, ii) 10 rats inoculated with blood orally, and iii) 10 rats inoculated with colostrum orally. The control group of sheep was inoculated with blood intraperitoneally. The inoculum was prepared from blood and colostrum samples from a cow diagnosed as serologically positive for VLB and with persiste...