Test your cattle for BVD disease
BVD
Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) does a lot of damage to cattle and is a highly contagious to them. You often can't tell much from infected animals; so the disease is insidious. We made it easier to test for BVD. Find out how we work.
Detect the virus
We have two ways to test for BVD, with the antigen ELISA technique and the antibody detection ELISA technique. With the antigen tests we can demonstrate the presence of the virus in tissue and blood; the antibody test we perform on serum or milk, and with this we demonstrate that the animal has been in contact with BVD. Important in control is to detect BVD carriers (IPIs or permanent excretors) at birth, which we do with the ELISA technique.
How do we work?
Livestock farmers take the biopsy at the time of ear tag application. If you are in Belgium, you can order green labels from Lavetan that you put on the envelope containing the biopsy. Such a label lets you put the biopsy in the mail for free, then it automatically comes to us. Dutch livestock farmers will receive submission materials from Bflex upon application. You send the material back to Bflex and they will forward the material to us.
Order submission materials here
Our lab technicians perform the analysis using sophisticated devices. In Belgium and in the Netherlands, all results are shared with the national databases, so the animals immediately receive their status.
What is BVD?
BVD is a plague virus and comes mainly in two different forms, type I and II. Type I is most common and may lead to diarrhea, problems with fertility or the birth of weak to malformed calves and IPIs (immunotolerant permanently infected). Type II often produces some very severe symptoms and can lead to death, but is, fortunately, less common. Once they are infected, cattle make antibodies lasting a lifetime. But please note, these only protect the animal for one year. Therefore, a new infection is always possible with the necessary consequences. Hence, fighting it is absolutely necessary.
Do you have questions about BVD or would you like to have a checkup? We are happy to help.
