Call to cut bovine viral diarrhoea losses

ENGLAND needs a national programme to eradicate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) to end the major health and economic problems it is causing, an expert has warned.

Joe Brownlie is professor of veterinary pathology in the Department of Pathology and Infectious Diseases at the Royal Veterinary College, where he heads up the research group on BVD.

The UK was being left behind other European countries that have national eradication programmes in place for what was arguably the most important single viral disease of cattle, he said.

“Within England, it is very important to start to consider a policy and who should be responsible for co-ordinating it. With a programme in place, we could start to see major benefits in two or three years.”

Professor Brownlie’s comments follow a series of seminars sponsored by Novartis Animal Health with concerned vets and farmers. The company manufactures the BVD vaccine Bovidec.

In lieu of a nationwide programme, Professor Brownlie is encouraging vets to offer a different strategy. Pilot schemes looking at the cost benefits of eradicating BVD looked like yielding promising results in the New Year.

Farmers should be aware of the need and value of identifying persistently infected animals, refrain from buying in untested animals, and be cautious of buying in pregnant animals or bulls that might be harbouring the disease.