British Cattle Veterinary Association

BVD is an important disease of cattle with a worldwide distribution. It can cause disease on it's own and also accentuate other secondary infections through it's immunosuppressive effect in cattle. With increased awareness amongst the farming public and because sometimes symptoms associated with BVD infection can be vague, it can be both under and over diagnosed. Therefore, it's important at a herd level, to establish testing regimes which can illuminate the level of BVDV activity in a herd. From this knowledge, control strategies can be employed to identify, eliminate and control sources of infection in herds. This paper gives an overview of such strategies.