RENO, Nev. – Efforts to control bovine viral diarrhea must start at the farm with vaccination and testing.
Dale Grotelueschen, a veterinarian with Pfizer Animal Health, says voluntary control programs are springing up in the United States at the state level, in which animals are tested and the results are shared.
An effective BVD control program could be a model to address other infectious diseases, he told the cattle health committee at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention in Reno Feb. 8.
“The crux of controlling BVD is controlling the persistently infected animals on the farm at early gestation,” he said.
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“A number of states are developing programs on a voluntary basis to control BVD.”
At the committee, delegates passed a resolution that opposed knowingly marketing or moving persistently infected animals and exposing others to disease.
Veterinarian Tim Richards of Illinois said the resolution was intended to ensure these cattle are not released into the marketing system where they could commingle in an auction mar ket and infect sale heifers.
The first step in controlling BVD is to get rid of the persistently infected calves that keep spreading the disease. About 90 percent are born infected because their pregnant mothers came in contact with the disease early in gestation.
A testing program from 2006-07 on 36 herds showed six had at least one persistently infected animal. Many of the herds brought in animals with unknown health status, which Grotelueschen said emphasizes the need for better biosecurity at the national and state level.
U.S. veterinarians are concerned that many of the infected calves come from herds of 40 head or less, which have minimal herd health programs.
A 2006 BVD conference in the United States reported about 12 percent prevalence in U.S. herds and 29 percent in European herds. Another symposium is planned for 2009.
Producers have numerous modified live and killed licensed vaccines to choose from and should talk with their veterinarian about the most effective option for their farm.
The U.S. Academy of Veterinary Consultants says vaccination is a tool and not a cure.
The disease itself is not fatal. It suppresses the immune system, making infected animals more susceptible to pneumonia, scours, foot rot and other infections. It can cause abortions, stillbirths and early calf deaths.
Persistently infected calves cannot always be identified visually. They shed the virus in body fluids and manure but appear normal.
Test kits are available from several companies.
