Spread the word | More producers need to test
The spectre of bovine virus disease persists on Alberta dairy and beef operations.
Among the worst cases are the persistently infected cattle that spread the costly disease to herd mates and unborn calves.
One University of Calgary researcher wants to find those animals to learn more about them and help farmers get rid of the disease.
Frank van der Meer of the U of C’s veterinary school is investigating the effectiveness of BVD vaccines. In the second phase of his research, he wants to work with 10 dairy and five cow-calf herds in Alberta.
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Those enrolled in the study will have their herds tested. Working with their veterinarians, they will receive follow-up care to examine risk factors and ways to remove the virus from their farms.
“These kind of initiatives can only be successful if producers want to do it,” said van der Meer.
He is looking for animals that have multiple respiratory tract infections and multiple abortions, cows that are unexpectedly open and calves that did not grow well.
“I look for animals that are generally small for their age and have a head that looks older,” he said.
However, some appear outwardly healthy but are still spreading the virus.
He has already received five persistently infected animals. They were euthanized and their organs and other tissues collected to examine the effects of this multi-faceted disease, which leads to respiratory infections, abortions and weak calves.
The disease presents itself differently in a dairy herd.
Persistently infected calves are infected during the first four months of gestation, which means there is always a susceptible fetus because there are always pregnant cows on a dairy farm.
A 2006 study on production limiting diseases found that nearly one-third of Alberta dairy herds showed a positive immune response to the test, meaning they were exposed to the virus. Calves will likely be infected if their mothers have the virus during pregnancy.
Calving is seasonal in beef herds, which limits the introduction of persistently infected calves.
Getting the information out to producers remains a challenge.
“We need to do way more work there. The interest is there,” van der Meer said.
The U of C researchers are trying to educate producers about the disease, the risks and how to remove it from a farm. Improved biosecurity is needed.
The current hot beef cattle market may increase the risk because producers are expanding their herds and may inadvertently introduce the disease through a new group of replacement heifers with unknown health status. Too few producers ask for health records or test animals for disease.
“Even if they sell high quality products like semen, embryos or bulls, they never test,” van der Meer said.
“If you want to find trouble, we always go to people who have expanded recently and usually we are successful.… If they want to keep me in business they need to continue their practices.”
The researchers are focusing on BVD but have found other diseases in the course of their work, which makes biosecurity plans more critical.
“We need to work on the perception of infectious diseases a bit more and how they will look at it. It is not only BVD that is important,” he said.
“We don’t want to over burden the farmers with all kinds of programs and initiatives. We need to work on one disease at a time so people understand what and why they are doing it.”
Producers interested in joining the study may call van der Meer at 403-210-6297.
