Muir welcomes measures to support the eradication of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD)

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister, Andrew Muir, MLA, has announced the launch of new measures to support efforts to eradicate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in cattle.  

The Minister is urging herd keepers to act now to avoid being impacted by these new measures.

Minister Muir said: “BVD is a serious and highly contagious disease of cattle which affects their productivity and compromises their welfare.  Since the introduction of the compulsory eradication scheme in 2016, significant progress has been made in driving down the incidence of the disease.  

"However, I am aware that more needs to be done to eradicate this disease and I have listened to industry, who have been engaging extensively with my Department, on what our next steps should be. 

"I am therefore pleased to announce new measures which will assist us to further address BVD in Northern Ireland. These measures will involve the introduction of herd level movement restrictions, taking into consideration their success within BVD Programmes in other jurisdictions.”

The measures being introduced are:

• From 1 February 2025, herd level movement restrictions will be applied to herds containing animals that have a positive or inconclusive BVD test result on a phased approach with ‘grace periods' being available for the first 12 months.  Herd keepers can avoid restrictions if they take prompt action to remove or retest the positive or inconclusive animals within these ‘grace periods'. 
• From 1 June 2025, movement restrictions will also be applied to herds with animals of unknown BVD status. This will be introduced in 3 stages, with the threshold number of unknown status animals reducing over a 16-month period. Keepers who are compliant with the testing requirements of existing legislation will not be impacted.
• Cattle born before 1 March 2016, will also now need to be tested for BVD if they do not have a negative or indirect negative BVD status.
• From 1 February 2026, additional movement restrictions will be placed on all breeding age females within herds containing animals that test positive for BVD.

Minister Muir added: “It is expected that only a small number of herd keepers will be impacted by these measures.  Restrictions can be avoided if herd keepers act now and comply with existing legal requirements to ensure all their animals are promptly tested for BVD.

“Also, if a positive case is detected, the impact of herd restrictions can be minimised if herd keepers act quickly to isolate and either remove the animal from their herd or arrange for a re-test. This will not only reduce the risk of spread of BVD to the rest of their herd, but it will shorten the length of time they will be restricted.”

Minister Muir concluded: “Given the substantial financial burden this disease places on industry and the benefits that eradication will achieve, through increased farm profitability, reduced antimicrobial usage and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, I think it is vitally important that these measures should be introduced now.

“I am very keen to support the ongoing efforts of industry to protect herds that are free from BVD and believe that if we all work together, we will take great strides towards eradicating this disease in Northern Ireland.”

The legislation has been developed through engagement with Animal Health & Welfare, NI (AHWNI), the delivery partner for the NI BVD eradication scheme and convenor of the BVD Implementation Group. 

Welcoming the introduction of herd restrictions, Dr Sam Strain, Chief Executive of AHWNI, said: “The introduction of these measures is a very welcome addition to the Northern Ireland BVD Eradication Programme. They are crucial if we are to achieve our ambition of eradicating BVD here.  Industry has already demonstrated its considerable commitment to achieving this aim with significant progress made to date. These new measures are an essential next step for the programme and will have a substantial effect in reducing further the level of infection, therefore helping to support farm businesses, improve animal health and welfare as well as protect our shared environment.

“The key to eradicating BVD is the prompt identification and removal of Persistently Infected (PI) cattle. The steps set out in this legislation will greatly enhance the removal of these infectious animals and therefore reduce the risk of further infection transmission.

"During the first year of these measures, no farmers need be restricted due to BVD if all PI animals are speedily removed from their herds and, in those herds with positives, all animals over a month of age have a BVD negative status. I fully expect these enhancements to the programme will lead to a further large reduction in the level of BVD here.”

The legislation to implement herd restrictions will come into effect on 1 February 2025.  Further details of how and when they will be applied and how to avoid them is available on the DAERA website at www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/bvd-herd-restrictions.

Notes to editors:

1. BVD is mainly spread by persistently infected (PI) cattle, which are born with the disease, having come into contact with the virus in the womb.  The virus can spread by other routes, including transiently infected cattle, which produce less virus for 2 to 3 weeks, after which they recover.

2. A public consultation had been held on the introduction of herd restrictions and this ended in December 2022.  100% of respondents welcomed the proposal to introduce herd restrictions as a disease control measure for BVD in NI. A consultation response and way Forward document is available on the DAERA website at: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-proposed-introduction-bovine-viral-diarrhoea-bvd-herd-restrictions.

3. The BVD Eradication Scheme Order (NI) 2016 came into operation on 1 March 2016. Under the BVD Order, herd keepers are required to sample all calves within 20 days of birth as well as any bovine born that enters a herd without a negative BVD status. Animals that test positive should be isolated to prevent direct or indirect contact with other susceptible animals.  This Order has now been amended to require the testing of older animals, born before 1 March 2016 without a BVD negative or indirect negative status. This amendment affects less than 600 animals. The keepers impacted by this will be informed directly ahead of the status of these animals being updated on NIFAIS on 1 March 2025.

4. The BVD Control Order (NI) 2024 introduces herd level movement restrictions in a phased approach:

• From 1 February 2025 herds with positive or inconclusive test results will be allowed a 28 day ‘grace period' before restrictions are applied.  Restrictions can be avoided if the animal is removed from the herd or retests negative during the grace period.
• This ‘grace period' will be reduced to seven days on 1 May 2025, and to zero days from 1 February 2026, when restrictions are applied immediately following a positive or inconclusive result.
• Restrictions on herds with animals of unknown status, will be introduced from 1 June 2025, initially targeting those herds with larger numbers of unknown status animals.  Keepers will be advised in advance if they will be subject to these restrictions and can avoid them if they test all animals in their herd which are more than 30 days old.
• Movement restrictions will apply to all breeding age females within herds with positive animals from 1 February 2026

5. Restrictions applied to herds will also be applied to associated herds, i.e. those which are epidemiologically linked to the herd, which has had restrictions applied to it.Restrictions will remain in place until 21 days after the positive animal is removed from the herd or retests negative, as long as all animals more than 30 days old have a negative BVD status.

6. Animal Health & Welfare, NI (AHWNI), is the delivery partner for the NI BVD eradication scheme. For more information on the operation of the Scheme, please contact AHWNI (email info@animalhealthni.com or tel. 028 7963 9333) or visit the AHWNI website: www.animalhealthni.com

7. Since the compulsory scheme was brought into effect the prevalence of BVD in NI has fallen by over 70%. Currently, over 98% of cattle here have a negative BVD status. In the past 12 months, however, just less than 1000 calves in NI have tested positive for BVD in around 470 herds.