BVDFree England Turns 2!

BVDFree England is a voluntary industry-led scheme, working to eliminate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) from all cattle in England by 2022.

It celebrates its 2nd anniversary this month, and the first farms to register 2 years ago will now be eligible for the new ‘BVDFree Test Negative’ herd status.

1. BVD is a complicated disease with a simple solution:
2. Identify and remove all PI animals from the national herd

Prevent the creation of new PIs BVDFree England members agree to:

1. Actively engage in BVD control and elimination in the herd
2. Report all BVD test results to the national database
3. Allow individual/herd results to be accessible through the BVDFree England database
4. Not move Persistently Infected (PI) animals other than directly to slaughter (or through a dedicated red slaughter market)

So far, just under 1,200 holdings have registered. This is a good start, but there’s a long way to go – there are about 6,500 holdings in England. If you want to know more, ask your vet, or visit the website and register free online.

BVDFree England Herd Status Categories

1. CHeCS BVD accredited-free – An accredited BVD-free herd through a CHeCS cattle health scheme.
2. BVDFree Test Negative Herd Status – Testing done as per 2 the BVDFree guidelines has demonstrated 2 consecutive years of negative results. Veterinary advice has been given on how to prevent new BVD infection entering the herd.
3. BVDFree Registered – A holding registered with BVDFree and implementing the testing protocols outlined by BVDFree England.
4. BVDFree Not Registered – A holding not registered with the BVDFree scheme