The concerning increase in calves identified as Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) positive continues to manifest with the latest programme results released by Animal Health Ireland showing an increase of approximately 90% when compared to the same period in 2024. The number of BVD positive calves up to week 16 was recorded at 359 head compared to 189 in 2024.

These figures are still far lower than in recent years but remain above the lowest levels recorded in 2024 and are a concern for the programme. The increase in cases appears to be stemming from some herds experiencing a significant breakdown with the herd prevalence level increasing by less than 20% and recorded at 106 herds compared to 86 in 2024.

The number of calves tested to date in 2025 stands at just over 1.4m head.

The total number tested in 2024 was over 2.3m head so there are still hopes that numbers will reduce as more calves are tested.