The National Institute for Animal Agriculture plans to host a one-day forum for beef producers and veterinary practitioners on handling the disease.
This is an important symposium as BVD is extremely problematic and costly for both beef and dairy producers. BVD affects the production abilities of cows and can cause the loss of calves. Transient infection symptoms include diarrhea, decreased milk production, reproductive disorders, increased occurrence of other diseases and death. Fetal infection can cause abortions, congenital birth defects, abnormally weak and small calves, persistently infected (PI) animals. PI animals represent an important source of disease risk both within the herd and across the industry.
According to the USDA, acute BVD outbreaks can cost producers between $50 and $100 per cow.
The NIAA Forum will educate attendees on the importance of greater attentiveness toward BVD, similar to what has been done for Johne’s disease, to increase the welfare of their animals and reduce the economic losses associated with BVD.
“The industry has done a good job of increasing awareness of BVD on the health and economic impacts, but the planning committee saw a need to renew that effort,” Nevil Speer, U.S. Operations-AgriClear Inc.says. “There is a very real health cost from the animals which get sick, but also from other surrounding animals. Producers are constantly having to fight that.”
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