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BVD

  • 03-06-2010 11:06am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭


    I was on a Farm Walk yesterday that had been organised by teagasc. I have to say that much of the talk was about BVD. It seems to be becoming a bit of an epidemic across the country. There were 2 teagasc speakers there who are currently doing research on it. They believe that up to 30% of farms in the counry are infected. They showed slides of the animals that it affected and identified many of the symptoms. These included high calf mortality rates, high rates of scour, poor weight gain (can mean that an animal's weight gain will fall by up to 50%), sudden deaths of cows or older animals and a poor fertility rate etc, etc.

    They talked about the dangers of buying replacment heifers in the marts and are advising people in our discussion group to only buy replacement heifers from herds that have been tested and are known to be disease free. There is currently a button test available for BVD which can have lab results back to you within 2 days so they recommend that you test every animal that you buy and ensure that it is kept separate from the herd until the test results come back. they also spoke about a new notch test which will be available here in the next 6 months and will give an instant result - so you may be able to test an animal for bvd before you pay for it.

    A couple of people spoke about their herds and the problems that they were having with pnumonia, scour and poor performance. One man has already lost a lot of calves in the last 6 months from both scour, pnumonia and just dropping dead in the field and he lost a number of cows with no explanation. In comparison to my own farm, I have been vaccinating against BVD for 3 years now. The calving season gone had the lowest vet bill in a long time. All of the cows were scanned in calf last october and only one calf was lost. I had only a couple of cases of scour and pnumonia. I think the BVD vaccination is working well for me.

    I just put this up so that people might be aware that there is an issue out there and if you have a lot of scours, pnumonia or even on farm deaths, then it may be worth getting your herd tested.


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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 2,253 ✭✭✭jfh


    interesting, don't know much about it, was asking our vet about the testing procudure and he was very dismissive of it, was surprised as i thought it was either positive or negative? if you vaccinate a cow in calf will it pass on to the calf? as i said i don't know much about it:o


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭snowman707


    reilig wrote: »
    I These included high calf mortality rates, high rates of scour, poor weight gain (can mean that an animal's weight gain will fall by up to 50%), sudden deaths of cows or older animals and a poor fertility rate etc, etc.



    A couple of people spoke about their herds and the problems that they were having with pnumonia, scour and poor performance. One man has already lost a lot of calves in the last 6 months from both scour, pnumonia and just dropping dead in the field and he lost a number of cows with no explanation. In comparison to my own farm, I have been vaccinating against BVD for 3 years now. The calving season gone had the lowest vet bill in a long time. All of the cows were scanned in calf last october and only one calf was lost. I had only a couple of cases of scour and pnumonia. I think the BVD vaccination is working well for me.

    I just put this up so that people might be aware that there is an issue out there and if you have a lot of scours, pnumonia or even on farm deaths, then it may be worth getting your herd tested.

    could be wrong but dont think cows will die from bvd. (mucosal disease)

    mucosal disease is wasting disease with scour and pneumonia symtoms and if diagosed it is best to slaughter the animal on welfare grounds, we had our first case of bvd about 23 years ago

    by the way we do not vaccinate


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    snowman707 wrote: »
    could be wrong but dont think cows will die from bvd. (mucosal disease)

    mucosal disease is wasting disease with scour and pneumonia symtoms and if diagosed it is best to slaughter the animal on welfare grounds, we had our first case of bvd about 23 years ago

    by the way we do not vaccinate

    I don't know enough about it to say that cows will or won't die but the guy that was talking yesterday as if they do. He talked about testing cows when they get very thin and talked about how he saw some of them dieing.

    A bigger problem with bvd is fertility problems in cows.

    I lost a calf 3 years ago and the vet took blood to send to the lab for testing. It came back positive, so I have been vaccinating since. The €3 per cow that it costs to vaccinat is well saved with the reduction in scour and pnumonia.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    Good source of info on BVD

    http://www.independent.ie/farming/beef/step-up-your-methods-to-help-eradicate-bvd-from-the-herd-2107532.html

    I don't think it's enough to just vaccinate. You have to identify the PI's (persistent infectors) which could be prefectly healthy animals and remove immediately.

    My Vet told me that it's in over 90% of the herds here in Ireland.
    I dont blame farmers for being confused on this. There's no clear message coming from the Department.
    Is it like the whole weanling vaccinate programme a few years back, which was more about drug companies trying to boost their sales.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    ye the whole pi thing confused me completely :rolleyes: where there any drugs companies at the teagasc meeting ?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    whelan1 wrote: »
    ye the whole pi thing confused me completely :rolleyes: where there any drugs companies at the teagasc meeting ?

    No, it was just 2 teagasc guys, one from the East and one from the north. They are on some BVD task force and currently doing research into it. They showed some stats about different farms whos animals had bvd and some not. They basically put bvd as the root cause of the majority of scours, pnumonia's, stunted growth and poor fertility rate in cattle. They went through stuff about PI's, but it was a bit confusing.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    ye i would just switch off completely when i dont understand - in one ear and out the other:D


  • Registered Users Posts: 42 cowbox


    It is a big problem alright more than likely in the next few years the department will do away with the brucellous test in the herd test and blood test for bvd..well thats what should be done!


  • Registered Users Posts: 215 ✭✭babybrian


    I was talking to our vet on an unrelated issue and when BVD came up he said that there is a free test by intrevet I think, for BVD, Lepto and IBR so I took a bulk milk sample(dairy herds only obviously) and will have the results back soon I hope and work from there.

    If all is clear then great but if not then at least we know what we are dealing with and can plan accordingly.

    Just to let other farmers know to get on to their vet and ask about this test if you want to know whether your herd has it our not.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    cowbox wrote: »
    It is a big problem alright more than likely in the next few years the department will do away with the brucellous test in the herd test and blood test for bvd..well thats what should be done!

    Why? What interest would the taxpayer have in controlling a disease that does so little harm?

    If people are living in negative equity taking pay cuts and tax rises, I think it will be very hard to persuade them to stump up for this.

    What's the difference (from the taxpayer's point of view) between BVD disease and potato blight disease?


    LostCovey


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    pakalasa wrote: »
    I dont blame farmers for being confused on this. There's no clear message coming from the Department.

    What has BVD to do with any Department?

    LC


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,786 ✭✭✭✭whelan1


    pg where doing a test last year on milk ... only problem was my vet said every herd got more or less the same results as most herds have met these diseases at one time or another iykwim- he siad he wouldnt go vaccinating on these results


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,586 Mod ✭✭✭✭blue5000


    if you buy in an animal that has already been vaccinated, then test it, that animal is going to show up positive isn't it?:confused:

    If the seat's wet, sit on yer hat, a cool head is better than a wet ar5e.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    LostCovey wrote: »
    What has BVD to do with any Department?

    LC

    The Department Of Agriculture.....:eek:


    ______________________________________________________
    "Disease control

    It is critically important that Ireland maintain a good record on animal disease. You can help by using the information and services offered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food.
    The most important diseases that affect Ireland are explained in detail below."

    http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/diseasecontrol/


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    blue5000 wrote: »
    if you buy in an animal that has already been vaccinated, then test it, that animal is going to show up positive isn't it?:confused:

    No, the animal will only show up as positive if it is a PI. Just because you vaccinate does not mean that the animal has BVD. As far as i can understand, if you vaccinate a PI cow, then she will not pass on the disease to her calf.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    Some more info, from Animal Health Ireland

    http://www.animalhealthireland.ie/bvdguidepdf.php


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭snowman707


    reilig wrote: »
    No, the animal will only show up as positive if it is a PI. Just because you vaccinate does not mean that the animal has BVD. As far as i can understand, if you vaccinate a PI cow, then she will not pass on the disease to her calf.

    UM that's interesting , about 90%of herds are claimed to carry the bvd virus, as i said we had our first case well over 20 years ago, since then we had another case in a bought in animal and we had a newborn calf which may have been infected. we may have had a couple of cows which lost embryos but who is to say for certain it was caused by bvd

    take over 20 years and over 1500 animals born the above record

    as long as there is money to be made from selling vaccines ,vets and drug companies will push for sales.

    I am NOT advising you NOT to vaccinate your animals, I am just telling you of my experience of bvd.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,401 ✭✭✭reilig


    I'm not debating with you at all. :) I know a lot of people who do not vaccinate and get on just fine, like you do. My point was that I found that when I did spend €3 per head on the vaccine, my vet bills for scours and pnumonia went down and the fertility rate in my cows went up.

    However, there are a lot of farms with high mortality rates in calves and poor fertility rates. I have an inlaw who lost 11 calves out of 72 this year from pnumonia and scour. There are a lot more farmers out there with similar mortality rates out there. They need to get to the source of the problem. One of these dead calves, if it could be saved, would have paid for the vaccine for the whole herd.

    Again, as i said, I'm no expert on BVD, in fact, I haven't really got a clue about it. I'm just passing on the information that i heard.
    snowman707 wrote: »
    UM that's interesting , about 90%of herds are claimed to carry the bvd virus, as i said we had our first case well over 20 years ago, since then we had another case in a bought in animal and we had a newborn calf which may have been infected. we may have had a couple of cows which lost embryos but who is to say for certain it was caused by bvd

    take over 20 years and over 1500 animals born the above record

    as long as there is money to be made from selling vaccines ,vets and drug companies will push for sales.

    I am NOT advising you NOT to vaccinate your animals, I am just telling you of my experience of bvd.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    pakalasa wrote: »
    The Department Of Agriculture.....:eek:


    ______________________________________________________
    "Disease control

    It is critically important that Ireland maintain a good record on animal disease. You can help by using the information and services offered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food.
    The most important diseases that affect Ireland are explained in detail below."

    http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/diseasecontrol/

    I don't see BVD there in that list you've linked pakalasa......

    Surely BVD is like liver fluke or redwater or mastitis - up to everyone to control on their own farm, or else for the farming sector to control themselves on a national or regional basis?

    Why do we need government help for everything?

    LC


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,552 ✭✭✭pakalasa


    BVD is highly contagious, so there's no hope of clearing it from the country, like the scandinavian countries have done, unless there is some legislation or national programme forcing famers to comply.

    If I understand right, the biggest threat is to herds that have never been exposed, and then suddenly the disease arrives around the early pregnancy stage. The result is widespread health problems, abortions etc. Like all diseases, cattle develop some level of immunity over time. After all, that's how it is laying almost dormant in over 90% of the herds.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    pakalasa wrote: »
    BVD is highly contagious, so there's no hope of clearing it from the country, like the scandinavian countries have done, unless there is some legislation or national programme forcing famers to comply.

    If I understand right, the biggest threat is to herds that have never been exposed, and then suddenly the disease arrives around the early pregnancy stage. The result is widespread health problems, abortions etc. Like all diseases, cattle develop some level of immunity over time. After all, that's how it is laying almost dormant in over 90% of the herds.

    I think the days of governments bringing in legislation to make us run our businesses better, and government officials forcing us to improve our efficiency are over.

    I doubt if the Scandinavaians needed help from Teacher.

    LC


  • Registered Users Posts: 609 ✭✭✭mossfort


    there was a company set up in 2009 in partnership with the government aimed at tackling disease in irish livestock.
    i think its in everyones interests to protect the irish livestock industry from disease and some form of testing should be introduced to detect for the presence of bvd in herds. it could very easily be done alongside the herd test which the farmer" already pays for "and is not funded by the taxpayer.
    http://www.animalhealthireland.ie/


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 2,978 Mod ✭✭✭✭K.G.


    i wonder were we sold a pup here and are we in tb erad 2.never had a positive until last year and another turned up this week.all this testing has done nothing to protect our herd only probaly making it more vulnerable now


  • Registered Users Posts: 546 ✭✭✭Morris Moss


    K.G. wrote: »
    i wonder were we sold a pup here and are we in tb erad 2.never had a positive until last year and another turned up this week.all this testing has done nothing to protect our herd only probaly making it more vulnerable now

    Get them to test again, had the same happen a couple of years ago, think we had 5 positives, never had any before so tested again and all came back negative. Not saying that'll happen to yourself but hopefully it will, to be honest it's too important not to be certain one way or the other.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 2,978 Mod ✭✭✭✭K.G.


    Get them to test again, had the same happen a couple of years ago, think we had 5 positives, never had any before so tested again and all came back negative. Not saying that'll happen to yourself but hopefully it will, to be honest it's too important not to be certain one way or the other.
    second positive last year,neighbour had one in 2017.i think theres years to run in this


  • Registered Users Posts: 546 ✭✭✭Morris Moss


    K.G. wrote: »
    second positive last year,neighbour had one in 2017.i think theres years to run in this

    Ah right, sorry misread you're first post, I think so too, no sign of it being eradicated, I suppose it's making money for some so probably never will be either.


  • Registered Users Posts: 28,916 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Any link to the recent percentage positives, has to be low enough now


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 8,967 Mod ✭✭✭✭greysides


    Both herd incidence and PI incidence are one-eleventh of what they were starting out. I'll see if I can find a recent summary later.

    The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress. Joseph Joubert

    The ultimate purpose of debate is not to produce consensus. It's to promote critical thinking.

    Adam Grant



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    K.G. wrote: »
    second positive last year,neighbour had one in 2017.i think theres years to run in this
    Was that a positive on the first test or a positive on the second test?


    The reason I ask is that the labs are supposed to be batch testing so if one in a batch of 10 has BVD, all 10 will show up as positive. Only the PI will show up in the second test or may just have transient infection which they recover from and aren't carriers any more. The clear animals will show up as negatives.


    We've put down a number of PIs at the start of the programme, we were in the voluntary part as well so this is year 8 for us. We had a few positives 2 years ago that were negative in the retest, for the reasons above according to my vet.


    I'll fire up the link to the 2019 programme, it's worth looking at the change in distribution and numbers of PIs on the maps since 2013.


    http://animalhealthireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BVDKeyPoints2019_FINAL_Web_Version.pdf


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,524 ✭✭✭grassroot1


    Until the department gets heavy handed with those retaining PI cattle it will never be sorted
    Farmers are their own worst enemy


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