Some 50,000 of the 83,000 Irish suckler and dairy breeding herds have acquired negative herd status (NHS) under the bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) national eradication programme.

Animal Health Ireland (AHI) expects a large percentage of herds awaiting NHS to achieve this in the near future. It says the reason for many herds not achieving NHS status is because they contain a small number of animals, generally two to three, with a status that is not yet known. The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) is issuing text messages to these herds and providing the identity of these animals. Programme manager David Graham said: “The large number of herds with NHS at this stage marks significant progress within the national eradication programme and this number is expected to grow further in the coming weeks as more herds complete the required testing. Herds that have retained PI animals are encouraged to dispose of them immediately to allow them to progress to NHS as quickly as possible.”

Herd owners should also pay attention to maintaining NHS given there are still herds retaining PI animals, increasing the risk of a potential outbreak in naive herds. AHI is encouraging farmers with NHS to pay close attention to biosecurity, including monitoring boundaries and putting procedures in place for visitors and equipment.

The number of PI animals identified has reduced greatly from 13,815 or 0.66% of calves (with an initial positive or inconclusive result without a negative retest result) in 2013 to 7,442 or just 0.33% in 2015. Results on AHI’s website show 417 herds with one or more PI calves born in 2015 still in the herd. The Department of Agriculture had planned to issue letters to farmers neighbouring herds retaining PI animals, but now appears to have backtracked on this plan.

The Department and AHI plan to achieve BVD-free status by 2020.

Testing costs

Farmers whose herds achieve negative status can now avail of lower-cost testing. Farmers in Munster with a BVD-negative herd pay as low €2.50 per sample for testing, with the average cost nationwide €2.80. Herds that have presence of BVD pay on average €3.40 per sample, a figure that was fairly consistent in each province. Connacht testing prices for negative herds were as high as €3.20 in some labs, with positive herds testing at €3.50 in the same lab.