Production

Join our Pestivirus management webinar October 10

Jon Condon, 26/09/2014

Beef Central and FutureBeef will host a webinar targeted at beef producers, cattle vets and other livestock stakeholders with an interest in pestivirus (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus) identification and management early next month.

Dr Enoch Bergman

Dr Enoch Bergman

The webinar will take place at lunchtime on Friday, Oct 10, featuring Western Australian veterinarian and president of the Australian Cattle Vets Association, Dr Enoch Bergman, who will present on the topic “De-mystifying pestivirus: a guide to enterprise level management and control.”

The practical one-hour webinar session will aim to help beef producers better understand the real impact that pestivirus can have on their herds, and provide guidance on developing programs to monitor for, and manage the disease.

BVDV is one of the most costly diseases affecting Australian beef production. The tests available for it are some of the simplest yet most accurate to use.  So why is there so much confusion and apathy about its management?

Whilst other countries have been busy either controlling or even eradicating BVDV, viewed by many of them to be the most economically significant cattle pathogen their countries harboured, Australia had been slow to respond, primarily because until relatively recently, it lacked many of the basic tools necessary to control the disease.

Australia did not have a commercial vaccine to manage BVDV until 2003, and ear-notch testing to identify carrier animals was unavailable until 2006.  Australia now has the tools, but a long history of apathy borne out of the frustration of lacking the tools to manage the disease continues to cripple progress in disease management and control.

There are a number of common myths and misconceptions about the disease, however, which need to be addressed for producers to assess the individual risks faced within their herds.

Producers participating in the webinar will have the opportunity to interact with Dr Bergman via a question and answer session, and will be able to hear his presentation as well as see his powerpoint slides.

Registration arrangements are still being organised, and will be provided on Beef Central next week, so put the date and time aside in your diary.

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