The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is joining with the 70-strong coalition of organisations from the industry to eradicate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) from England ahead of the 2016 BVDFree campaign launch on Friday (1 July).
BVDFree is the first national scheme in England to work towards eliminating the BVD virus from all cattle herds.
The BVD virus is transmitted in a number of ways, either through a congenital infection during pregnancy to the foetus giving rise to a persistently infected animal, or between cattle within the herd, often spread from nose-to-mouth, and giving rise to a wide variety of clinical signs.
It is estimated that more than 90% of UK herds have had exposure to BVD.
The Royal Veterinary College has estimated the impact of BVD on the English dairy and beef sectors to be £11.36 million per year – with the impact doubling to over £22 million in a ‘worst case scenario
BVA President Sean Wensley said: "BVA is very pleased to join the BVDFree coalition, helping to build on and strengthen the excellent work already taking place to eradicate this persistent disease.
"The launch of BVDFree offers farmers and vets an opportunity to work together to improve animal welfare and farm efficiency, working towards the goal of a BVD free England."
• The 2016 campaign aims to raise awareness of BVD through a social media campaign and easy-to-remember techniques such as the ADAM process:
• Assess the level of biosecurity and disease risk on farm
• Define the BVD status of your herd
• Action plan for control of BVD on farm put in place
• Monitor progress - annual status check
