The prevalence of BVD in Northern Ireland has dropped by a quarter since the first programme was rolled out in February 2017, according to Animal Health and Welfare NI.

However, the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) has called on farmers not to become complacent.

“While there has been a significant reduction in the levels of this costly disease, we must not become complacent. There is still work to be done if we are to successfully eradicate it,” UFU deputy president David Brown said.

Farmers risk spreading the disease to healthy cattle

They said that current figures suggested that 40% of BVD positive animals are still not killed within five weeks of getting a positive result and this needs to change.

“By not culling these animals immediately, farmers risk spreading the disease to healthy cattle in their own herd and neighbouring herds. These persistently infected (PI) animals shed enormous amounts of the BVD virus. Identification and prompt removal is the key to disease control and eradication,” Brown said.

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