“Stop BVDV”. Under this motto, Switzerland has implemented a comprehensive Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) eradication program. Prionics diagnostic laboratory is participating in this program with large-scale testing of cattle samples for the presence of the BVD Virus using the PrioCHECK® BVDV Ag PIfocus and the cador BVDV RT-PCR Kit of Qiagen.
In addition to testing for BSE, Prionics diagnostic laboratory now also performs routine testing for the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV). Together with its partner laboratory, Labor Zentral the Prionics laboratory will test approximately 450,000 samples this year, coming from herds in the three Swiss cantons: Bern, Solothurn and Fribourg. The BVDV testing unit of the Prionics diagnostic laboratory has been operative since the end of January 2008, after having successfully passed an extended accreditation by the Federal Office of Metrology (METAS) last year. With the addition of BVDV testing to Prionics operations, customers will profit from the extended hands-on experience achieved by the routine application of the tests.
Excellent BVDV tests
The submitted samples are assessed with two different diagnostic tests for BVDV. For animals over 60 days of age – about 90% of incoming samples – the highly specific PrioCHECK® BVDV Ag PIfocus is employed, while younger animals are tested with the cador BVDV RT-PCR kit of Qiagen. “The RT-PCR test was operational in our laboratory in less than four weeks, thanks to the excellent support and cooperation of both Qiagen and Applied Biosystems,” says Bettina Bernard, Manager Diagnostic Service at Prionics. Currently, over 2,000 samples are tested daily in the Prionics diagnostic laboratory. Bettina Bernard is enthusiastic about the capability of both BVDV tests. “The tests are very robust and easy to handle, which is what we need now that we have to handle a large number of samples with limited staff,” she says.
Swiss BVD eradication program
The official Swiss BVD eradication program requires that all Swiss cattle are to be tested for BVD by December 2008, which means that over a million animals will be tested this year. The program is directed at eliminating Persistently Infected (PI) animals from herds. The presence of PI animals in a herd continues the spread of infection. Many of these animals are undergoing testing right now because this is the season cattle are brought to the alp pastures for the summer. In the mountains, cattle herds of different farms merge, thereby increasing the risk of infection. The Swiss BVD eradication program consists of three phases: The initial phase, which runs until December 2008, is for the testing of all Swiss cattle that have not yet been tested for BVD. After this initial phase, all PI animals should have been eliminated and it should mean that only unborn calves could still carry the infection. New born calves will be tested in the calves-phase that will run from January 2009. In the third phase, the surveillance phase, newborn animals will be routinely tested for the presence of the BVDV to check whether the measures taken in the first two phases worked. The surveillance program will also involve random sampling of cattle for testing to monitor the BVD situation.
