Eradication of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in Cattle in Switzerland: Lessons Taught by the Complex Biology of the Virus.

ABSTRACT: Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) and related ruminant pestiviruses occur worldwide and cause considerable economic losses in livestock and severely impair animal welfare. Switzerland started a national mandatory control programme in 2008 aiming to eradicate BVD from the Swiss cattle population. The peculiar biology of pestiviruses with the birth of persistently infected (PI) animals upon in utero infection in addition to transient infection of naïve animals requires vertical and horizontal transmission to be taken into account. Initially, every animal was tested for PI within the first year, followed by testing for the presence of virus in all newborn calves for the next four years. Prevalence of calves being born PI thus diminished substantially from around 1.4% to <0.02%, which

SUBMITTER: Schweizer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8452978 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature