Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD)

Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle. It is one of the biggest disease issues facing the UK cattle industry. BVD has been estimated to cost between £13 and £31 per cow in Great Britain. The national cost could be as high as £61m per year. (Bennett and Ijpelaar, 2005)

The BVDFree England Board took the decision to close the BVDFree England Scheme on 31 July 2024. 

With the closure of the scheme you are able to contact bvdfree.certificates@ahdb.org.uk for any queries or access to herd status certificates. Please provide the CPH, farm name and trading name to process your request and allow two working days for a reply.

Since its launch in July 2016, the scheme achieved:

• 6,972 registered holdings
• Covered 45% of all beef and dairy breeding cattle in England
• 1,953 holdings with test negative herd status
• 1,559,800 animals with individual negative status
• over 110 industry supporters

One of the main objectives set for the scheme during its formation was “BVD can and will be eliminated through a strong partnership of farmers, vets, industry bodies and Government working together with each doing their part towards achieving the common objective. BVD FREE supports and will seek to develop further industry initiatives to inform farmers and vets of the benefits of BVD control and to provide access to farm health planning and advice on BVD control.”

Within the lifetime of the scheme this has been achieved and has led to a co-design for the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway consisting of experts and industry and the subsequently planned launch of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway England – Endemic Control programmes fulfils this objective.

Tag and Test

If you opt to tag and test, all calves born in the herd should be tested for virus by tissue sample, within the year. You can test the calves as they are born or all at once. You must test all calves that are registered as born on your holding. It is also advisable to test any aborted foetuses, stillborn calves and animals that do not produce a live calf or abort a foetus to ensure these are not persistently infected.

Youngstock Blood Sample (Check Testing)

Whenever possible use option (a) below. Where this is not possible, perhaps as a result of animals leaving the herd before the age of nine months, then options (b) and (c) should be followed in order. Before deciding to do a check-test, speak to your vet to identify how many groups to sample in your herd. If you calve twice per year you may need to test your herd twice per year. Your vet will decide how many animals need to be tested and can advise on how best to test herds with very low numbers of cattle.

(a) Five calves aged 9–18 months

Take samples of blood from at least five unvaccinated calves, aged 9–18 months from each separate management group (see below for more information). If you have less than five animals in this age group you should test all of the animals in this category and count them towards the sampling quota in options (b) or (c) as appropriate.

(b) Five calves aged 6–18 months

If less than five of your unvaccinated calves are aged 9–18 months, then sample all of the calves in that age range. Plus take a sample of blood from at least five calves in total including animals in the age range 6–18 months, sampling a minimum of five calves in each separate group. If you have less than five animals in this age group you should test all of the animals in this category and count towards the sampling quota in option (c).

(c) Five homebred animals including animals over 18 months

If you have fewer than five unvaccinated calves aged 6–18 months, then and only then, and on your vet’s advice, you may choose to use the following method: blood sample all calves aged 6–18 months, and in total at least five animals should be tested including animals over 18 months that have been on the holding since birth, sampling a minimum of five animals in each separate group. If you have less than five animals that have been on the holding since birth, test all animals in this category. Discuss with your vet whether tag and test would be a more appropriate sampling strategy for your breeding herd in future years.

Milk Testing

The milking herd can be screened for the presence of a PI animal(s) by testing a bulk milk sample cows for BVD virus. Check with your laboratory on the maximum number of cows that can contribute to a bulk milk sample for the BVD virus test. If the herd is too big or if a bulk milk sample tests positive, smaller pools and then individual milk or blood samples will have to be tested to identify the virus-positive animal(s).

Remember that in individual milk sampling there is always a risk of cross-contamination, which should be considered when analysing results. If a PI is indicated from this milk screen, further testing will be required on the animals contributing to the sample to identify it. Individual testing is required for this.

Vaccination

Vaccination helps protect your herd from disease. While vaccination may reduce the impact of BVD, it is important to understand that vaccination alone will not eliminate BVD either from a herd or nationally. Persistently Infected cattle are so highly infectious they will continue to spread BVD even if the herd is vaccinated. 

The vaccines available are very effective, but, it is vital that the vaccine is administered exactly as directed in the manufacturer’s instructions. Vaccination is recommended before breeding. Your vet can advise you on how to store, handle and administer the vaccine the vaccine correctly. It is important to use the right dose rates at the right time, including timing of boosters, to get the best results from vaccination. If you don’t follow the instructions your herd will not be properly protected. PI animals shed huge amounts of virus and present a significant challenge even to vaccinated animals. Inadequately vaccinated animals in contact with PI cattle are at significant risk.

BVD virus vaccination is designed to protect cows and heifers in early pregnancy to avoid infection and the production of PI calves. Vaccination before they go through a market or to a show may also useful to protect susceptible cattle if the recommended course of vaccination has been completed in time. A decision on whether, what and when to vaccinate is best taken together with your vet. In considering whether to vaccinate you should consider the risk factors for BVD infection for the herd involved, such as:

• Are there neighbouring holdings with cattle?
• Is there nose-to-nose contact with neighbouring cattle?
• Does the keeper buy-in cattle or is it a closed herd?
• Are bought-in cattle of known BVD status?
• Are cattle sent to shows?
• Are bulls brought in for breeding and is their
• BVD status known?

The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway (the Pathway) was launched in 2023.

The Pathway supports continual improvement in farm animal health and welfare. The Pathway is a partnership – the government is working together on each step with farmers, vets, the wider industry and the supply chain.