Over 800 cattle herds in NI had at least one positive case of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) during 2020, down from almost 1,000 herds in the previous year.

According to Animal Health and Welfare Northern Ireland (AHWNI), the body tasked with overseeing the eradication of BVD, the number of herds returning a positive BVD test has fallen by 62% since the outset of the scheme in 2016.

The number of cattle testing positive for BVD is also declining. At the end of the first year of compulsory testing, 0.66% of calves came back positive. This figure has declined to 0.29% by the end of November 2020.

In October 2020, 83% of all BVD positive calves were removed from herds within 35 days of testing.

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