Bovine virus diarrhoea virus: detection of Danish dairy herds with persistently infected animals by means of a screening test of ten young stock

In each of 42 Danish dairy herds, ten young stock aged 8–18 months were tested for antibodies against bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV). At the same time a bulk milk sample from each herd was examined for antibodies against BVDV.

The herds could be divided into two distinct groups: (1) Group A (24 herds) had three or less antibody carriers among the ten young stock sampled from each herd and were considered ‘slightly infected’; (2) Group B (18 herds) had eight or more antibody carriers in the ‘spot’ sample and were therefore considered ‘heavily infected’. Persistently infected animals were not found in two Group A herds studied by a subsequent total herd blood test but were detected in five Group B herds in which all animals in the herds were subsequently tested.

Bulk milk titers were generally higher in Group B than in Group A herds. However, there was considerable variation, and in most cases it was not possible to distinguish the two herd categories from one another by means of bulk milk titers.