Next phase of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme

14th November 2013

New control measures being introduced.

The programme to eradicate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) and save the Scottish cattle industry up to £80 million is moving into its next phase.

The ambitious industry-led scheme aims to remove the threat of a disease - which causes reproductive problems and can be fatal - from Scotland.

This third phase of the programme will see control measures being introduced on the January 1 2014. These are:

restricting movement of animals infected with BVD
placing temporary restrictions on holdings that have failed to test
BVD herd status to be declared prior to any movement from the herd
New guidance will be issued to all cattle farmers ahead of the introduction date to make sure they are ready for the measures and aware of the requirements.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said:

“Eradicating BVD is an important step for the industry; to eliminate the threat of this disease will benefit farmers in terms of economic cost and welfare. Eradication will save the industry an estimated £50-80 million over a 10 year period.

“BVD eradication can also improve herd health and reduce vets bills as well as reducing the use of antibiotics which ultimately will help to reduce the risk of drug resistance.

“Over 90 per cent of all herds in Scotland have complied with the mandatory testing under phase two of the programme. This highlights the positive engagement from farmers across Scotland and gives us a solid platform to move forward with phase 3.

“The programme is progressing very well and we will make sure that all cattle farmers are kept fully informed and updated on our next steps to allow for a smooth transition into the next phase.”

To be introduced January 2014: Reducing the spread of infection

We will not be able to eradicate BVD solely by testing; measures will have to be put in place to reduce the spread of the disease. The two most important factors are:

Stop the movement of BVD virus infected cattle; and,

Help keepers to reduce the chances of buying-in disease.

We aim to do this through the following measures.

Ban on knowingly moving infected BVDV cattle

Persistently Infected (PI) cattle are by far the most important method of transmission of the disease – if they are removed from the herd, the disease will die out. We intend to make it an offence to sell or move any animal that the keeper knows is infected with BVDV - both PI and transiently infected (TI) animals. We will receive the results of virus tests at approved laboratories, so we will be able to monitor through the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) if animals that have tested positive for virus are being moved.

Herd declarations at sale or movement

We will require keepers of all breeding herds to declare the status of any animals presented at sale. Requiring keepers to declare their most recent BVD finding/status in advance of any animal movement is to allow potential purchasers and other persons with a relevant interest to ascertain the current BVD finding/status of the herd/animal.

Restrictions of untested herds/animals

We will introduce movement restrictions on holdings where the keeper of the animals has failed to carry out the mandatory testing requirements. The restriction will stay in place until the keeper has complied with mandatory testing requirements.

From December 2014 the following may be introdcued:

Not Negative Herd Movement restrictions

At some point, cattle from not-negative herds may have to be more restricted. We will propose that cattle from such herds can only be moved direct to slaughter, unless they are individually tested BVD virus free. This is necessary to prevent the movement of disease around Scotland.

Restrictions on brought in animals.

Where animals are brought in from outside Scotland it will be a requirement to individually test these animals for the presence of BVDV within a set period of probably around a month. This should help to prevent the re-introduction of the disease.

Mandatory Testing see
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/Agriculture/animal-welfare/Diseases/disease/bvd/eradication/Manannualscreening