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LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
BVD CONTROL
In October 2010, Bishopton Vet Group
obtained RDPE funding from DEFRA and the EU,
managed by LANTRA LandSkills, for a BVD
eradication scheme in the Nidderdale area
of North Yorkshire. Bishopton vets Katharine
Blease and Jonathan Statham have been
co-ordinating the project, to which 10 beef
farmers and 10 dairy farmers signed up.
Katharine explains: ‘Four of the herds involved
were found to have PI animals - these would
have been actively shedding the virus and
infecting their herd mates, putting them at risk
of aborting or giving birth to a PI animal, and
generally depressing their immunity and health.
‘PI animals don't always look sick. It can
be hard to believe the results sometimes
when animals look perfectly normal. On one
dairy farm, two heifers tested positive as PI
animals despite looking very healthy. So,
on request, they were isolated and the test
repeated. However the initial diagnosis
was correct and these animals were then
slaughtered to remove the source of the
virus from the herd.’
A further 10 herds in the scheme were found
to have been exposed to the virus, and
only seven of the herds sampled showed
no evidence of BVD.
Veterinary Surgeon
Katharine Blease
XLVets Practice
Bishopton Veterinary
Group
Andrew Fisher
Beef Farmer, Well House Farm
Katharine Blease
Bishopton Veterinary Group
Spotting a PI (Persistently Infected) animal
Amongst the beef farmers who signed onto the
eradication scheme was Andrew Fisher of Well
House Farm near Pateley Bridge, who runs a
30-cow suckler herd of pedigree British Whites,
selling the meat to a local Harrogate butcher.
Andrew was concerned that some of his cows
were not holding to service, and would be
calving later in the spring than he would have
liked. Biosecurity was also an issue as Andrew
shows his pedigree British White cattle around
six times each year. At these events there was
the potential for them to come into contact with
BVD-infected animals.
Andrew explains: ‘We go to about six shows
each year, animals can pick up the BVD virus
just from being in contact with others at the
water troughs.’
Katharine explains: ‘To determine whether a
beef herd has any PI animals, the first step is
to carry out a bleed of youngstock of between
8 and 14 months of age. Typically, we will
sample 6 to 10 animals in a given group.
Loss of fertility
Andrew Fisher