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. 1998 Mar 1;39(1):89–98. doi: 10.1186/BF03547810

The Duration of Antibodies Against Bovine Virus Diarrhoea Virus in Bulk Milk

Varigheten av antistoffer mot bovin virusdiaré-virus i tankmelk

B Fredriksen 19,✉, T Løken 29, SA Ødegaard 19
PMCID: PMC8050677  PMID: 9592949

Abstract

Fifty-eight dairy herds, suspected to be recently infected with bovine virus diarrhoea virus (B VDV) due to a rise in BVDV antibodies in bulk milk, were followed over a two-year period. In 34 (59%) of these 58 herds (Group 1), pooled milk samples from heifers or pooled blood samples from calves were negative for BVDV antibodies. In this group as many as 53 and 76% of the herds again had antibody-negative bulk milk one and two years after the positive sample, respectively. Of the remaining herds, 5 and 17 % had negative samples after one and 2 years respectively.

Possible explanations for the limited duration of antibodies against BVDV in bulk milk are discussed. In 65% of the herds in Group 1, animals had been purchased and introduced into the herd, or the herds had been exposed to other forms of contact representing a risk of infection with BVDV In the remaining 35% of the herds in this group, no explanation for the rise in BVDV antibodies in the bulk milk could be found. In this study the introduction of seropositive animals into the herd, and infection inducing seroconversion in one or more animals as the only result, seem to be the most probable explanations for the rise in antibody levels observed in Group 1. kw|Keywords|k]risk factors; k]transmission

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Norwegian Control Programme for BVD/MD represented by its leader Ola Nyberg, for kindly letting us use data from the programme. We also appreciate being allowed to use data from Dag Lindheim's pilot project in Rogaland county, as well as the results of antibody testing done by the Norwegian Cattle Association (NRF), Hamar, concerning the year prior to the start of the national programme.

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