BVD Statistics

Current overall statistics:

The BVD Control Strategy became compulsory on 1 January 2014.

Please remember that is illegal to move a PI either to another holding or by export; the only route is via an on-Island slaughterhouse (either the Meat Plant or the Fallen Stock).

A summary of the current national herd is shown below. It is split between animals born before 1 Jan 2014 and per year afterwards, as the compulsory BVD Scheme commenced on 1 Jan 2014.

Animals which have tested as 'persistently infected' (PI), we term as 'positive'.

You can see there is a problem with some owners keeping positives and there are also new holdings who have had positives for the first time this year. Has the source of these been identified with help from your private vet?

The central point of any BVD control plan is to both identify and eliminate positive animals.

It may be tempting to retain positive animals which “look healthy”. Statistically, most will die before maturity, be a financial loss and more importantly, be an on-farm virus factory. True “isolation” is almost impossible to achieve on farm.

If you have live animals with an unknown status from 2016 or earlier you are now on the list for a Cattle Identification Inspection. Breeding bulls which move MUST have a negative result before they move and imported animals must be tested within their isolation period (or pre-import).

When purchasing animals or hiring bulls ASK if they’re negative.

This is especially important if you’re purchasing in-calf females – a PI on the farm of origin could mean that the dam has already been infected during pregnancy and the subsequent calf will turn out to be positive.

It is really important for you to tell us that PI animals have died/been culled or have been retested.

FUTURE: Your ADS payments may be subject to deductions if you fail to test within the required timescales or if you move positive animals or move unknown animals born/imported after 1 Jan 2014.

This page will be regularly updated to show the progress of the BVD Compulsory Strategy.

If you feel the results above or those shown on BITS Online differ from your understanding – please do not hesitate to contact us.  If you have any queries, please contact DEFA as below. At the moment, BITS Online is currently updated daily: we are generally in the position of having received BVD results whilst we await the respective calf registrations.