BVD movement restrictions on APHIS to commence
Movement restrictions based on animal BVD status information from both the Voluntary and Compulsory Phases of the Programme will commence on APHIS on 12th February 2018. This will affect the movements of cattle in farm to farm sales, through markets and Export Assembly Centres.
The BVD status of any cattle that are intended for selling should be checked before movement. Herd owners can use APHIS or the AHWNI database to check the BVD statuses of their animals and should ensure that any animals that have a non-negative status are followed up appropriately.
For animals born on or after 1st March 2016, only negative (BVDN) animals can be sold at market, sold directly to another herd or exported (including via an Export Assembly Centre).
Those that do not have a recorded test result (that is, where they have not been tested or where unsuitable samples have been submitted) should have a supplementary tag applied and the sample should be sent to the relevant laboratory for testing.
For animals born before 1st March 2016, those animals that are positive (BVDP), inconclusive (BVDI), dam of a PI (DAMPI) or offspring of a PI (OFFPI) cannot be sold at market, sold directly to another herd or exported (including via an Export Assembly Centre).
For all non-negative animals, regardless of date of birth, a private vet can take and submit a blood sample for testing. If any calves or dams are confirmed as being Persistently Infected, they should be culled as soon as possible.
The transfer of BVD results between the ROI and NI is not currently carried out, so cattle imported from the ROI that are to be moved or exported back at a later stage will be required to have a BVD test carried out in NI on the relevant stock.
Eradication scheme membership is triggered by the purchase of ear tags, so any active farmers who have not purchased ear tags can contact AHWNI in order to be added to the BVD database and receive AHWNI letters and text messages. All herd owners will be able to view their cattle’s BVD status on APHIS from 12th February 2018.
For all BVD queries, please check the AHWNI website www.animalhealthni.com or contact the AHWNI helpdesk on 028 7963 9333.