The Welsh Government is aiming to eradicate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) through mandatory annual screening of cattle, before herd movement restrictions are introduced in July 2025. Keepers have until the 1st of July 2025, to complete their first annual screening test.
Testing your herd for BVD became a legal requirement in Wales from 1st July 2024. All keepers of cattle herds are required to carry out antibody screening for BVD annually.
- Samples must be submitted to an approved laboratory.
- The result will be issued by the laboratory and will set the herd status to BVD Negative or Not Negative.
- Results will be reported by the laboratory to the keeper, their primary veterinary care provider, and the Welsh Government.
- The herd status will be changed automatically by the BVD database system to BVD Negative, provided there are no BVD positive and BVD PI animals in the herd.
Measures being introduced from 1st July 2025
Herds that have not completed their screening test will be placed under movement restrictions pending a negative test result (BVD Not Negative).
A herd that is BVD Not Negative cannot move any cattle from the herd, without a valid negative BVD pre-movement antigen test. This negative BVD antigen test result will be valid for 30 calendar days from the date of sampling the animal. Herd movement restrictions apply from the time any BVD-positive antibodies are identified in a cattle herd during the annual mandatory BVD antibody screening.
Buying animals from outside of Wales
Keepers moving cattle with an unknown BVD status onto a Welsh holding will have to antigen test the animals within 20 days after the move. Animals with a BVD unknown status brought into a herd cannot leave the herd without an individual BVD Negative status.
If an animal tests positive upon post-movement, the herd status is amended to BVD Not Negative and the animal in question will need to be re-tested after 21 days.
Read more at: Welsh Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Eradication Scheme: guidance [HTML] | GOV.WALES
