Since 2008, Switzerland has been conducting a national Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) eradication program. It relies on the identification and elimination of persistently infected animals (PI animals). The program is a success: if in 2008 the PI prevalence among new-born calves was of 1.6%, it is of 0.1% at the end of 2010.

The program is organized in different steps. In a first step, heifers were tested before going to the common summer pasture. In a second step, all remaining cattle were tested within three months. Since then, new-born calves are tested within 10 days after they were born.

The success of such an undertaking program relies mostly on the logistic, thanks to a performing IT tool that centralizes all the data useful to the program such as animal movement or laboratory results. The implementation of animal movement restriction for pregnant cattle was also essential to avoid reinfection of negative herd. A wide spectrum and multichannel communication campaign plays also a crucial role.

The next months will be decisive to eliminate the remaining PI’s. Some years might be needed to prove freedom from BVD in Switzerland.