BVD ‘grace period’ reduced for positive or inconclusive animals
Date published:
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir, MLA, is reminding herd keepers that the grace period, where they can avoid Bovine Viral Diarrhoea herd restrictions being applied to their herd, is being reduced on 1 May 2025.
From this date, herd restrictions will not be applied provided all BVD positive or inconclusive animals are culled within seven days of a positive or inconclusive test result being reported.
The new legislation, which came into force on 1 February 2025, means herd level movement restrictions are being introduced on a phased approach, and initially applied to herds containing animals that have a positive or inconclusive BVD test result, with ‘grace periods’ being available for the first 12 months.
Minister Muir said: “I am very pleased that since legislation to introduce new BVD measures came into force on 1 February 2025, very few herds have been subject to herd restrictions. This is down to the prompt action of herd keepers in dealing with BVD positive animals. As I have emphasised previously, no herds need to be restricted because of a positive animal within the first year of these new BVD measures being applied, if keepers act quickly within the allowed grace periods.”
Minister Muir added: “Reducing the grace period on 1 May from 28 days to 7 days should further speed up the removal of BVD Positive or Inconclusive animals from herds. Therefore, this will reduce the risk of onward spread of this disease to other animals within the herd as well as reducing the risk to neighbouring herds. This is vitally important in supporting wider industry efforts to eradicate this disease, which affects animal welfare and is a significant financial burden on the livestock industry here in Northern Ireland.”
Minister Muir concluded: “BVD control measures will continue to be introduced in a phased manner with additional measures introduced from 1 June 2025 that will also target herds containing animals over 30 days old that haven’t been tested for BVD. I therefore urge all herd keepers, not just those who identify positive animals in their herd, to plan ahead to avoid these restrictions by ensuring all their animals are promptly tested for BVD and that steps are taken to reduce the risk of the virus entering their herds.”
Further details of BVD measures, how and when they will be applied and how to avoid herd restrictions is available on the DAERA website.
Notes to editors:
1. BVD is a serious and highly contagious disease of cattle, which affects their productivity and compromises their welfare. It 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. Under the BVD Eradication Scheme Order (NI) 2016 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 must be isolated to prevent direct or indirect contact with other susceptible animals.
3. From 1 May 2025 herds with positive or inconclusive test results will be allowed a seven day ‘grace period’ before restrictions are applied. This ‘grace period’ will be reduced to zero days from 1 February 2026, when restrictions will be applied immediately following a positive or inconclusive result.
4. 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 ensure all animals within their herd have a valid BVD test result.
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