Guidelines for whole-herd BVD testing

Surveillance data indicate that more than 70 percent of U.S. dairy cows have been exposed to the BVD virus. Thus, its presence is real, and is a threat to the long-term success of dairy herds.

Left unchecked, BVD can be the cause of:

• Poor reproductive efficiency
• Abortions
• Loss of milk production
• Impaired growth and unthriftiness of young stock

The Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council advises a comprehensive BVD control program that includes:

• Diagnostic testing for BVDV to confirm clinical cases and identify persistently infected (PI) animals.  
• Vaccination; and
• Biosecurity measures

DCRC cautions that pursuing one vein of this control program without the others will result in substandard control.

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