We have learned a lot from COVID since it was first noticed in December. One puzzling thing is that some people can have it but be “Asymptomatic,” which means they have the virus but show no symptoms of being sick.
Being asymptomatic is a problem to the general population because if you don’t feel sick you’re living life normally, you go to the grocery store, you go to cattle auctions or to the diner, unknowingly spreading the virus to everyone you encounter.
BVDv is the same way when it comes to BVD-PI animals. Again, PI animals are born with BVDv, have it for life and shed billions of virus particles per day. What most people don’t know is 70-90% of the time BVD-PI animals are asymptomatic.
Maybe BVDv wouldn’t be an issue if we could easily spot the animals that were causing all of the problems. As nice as that would be, it’s not the case. To find BVD-PI animals, you have to test for them, same with people infected with COVID.
One thing I can guarantee you is we will never run short of tests. Whether you’re testing your 15 heifers or a 50,000 head yard, we have you covered.
Follow us as we explore what COVID and BVD have in common and how we can take what we have learned from COVID and apply it to our beef operations.
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