Managing BVDV at the herd level part 2

Abstract

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a costly disease and its eradication is the focus of the English voluntary scheme, BVDFree. The process of identifying a farm as negative or not negative is broken down into four stages using ADAM: assess disease risk; define herd status; action plan for BVD control; monitor progress. This process is based on the long-established protocols defined by Cattle Health Certification Standards. The latter two stages are discussed in this article with the first two discussed in part 1 of this series. Initial testing will identify the farm as negative or not negative for BVDV. Herds that are not negative will require further testing, which will often take the form of screening for a persistently infected (PI) animal, or ‘PI hunt’, by testing every animal in the herd either directly or indirectly for the presence of virus. Maintaining and monitoring BVDV status will require ongoing testing, tag and test, or check test at the farmer's choice, and continued attention to biosecurity, especially in negative herds that are not vaccinated.