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Released: January 23, 2004 Is BVD Lurking in Your Cattle Herd? RUSSELL, Kan. – Increased incidence of abortion, unexplained calf deaths, and weak or poorly-developing calves may be signs of bovine virus diarrhea (BVD). This disease is immunosuppressive to calves and makes them susceptible to a variety of other diseases, according to Larry Hollis, Kansas State University Research and Extension veterinarian. While the disease has been around for a long time, recent improvements in diagnostic capabilities have resulted in finding a higher incidence of the disease than previously thought. Economic losses have been better characterized. Animals may become persistently infected (PI) and appear normal, while spreading the virus to other animals. As performance problems with the PI animals become more widely known, demand will likely increase for producers to answer questions about how they can devise their own BVD-control strategies. In order to help producers identify and control BVD, K-State Research and Extension will host the Central Kansas Cow/Calf Symposium Friday, Feb. 6, at the Russell County 4-H Building. Registration will begin at 9 a.m., with the program starting at 9:45 a.m. The symposium also will cover other topics critical to the beef industry, including the national livestock identification program, cow leases, synchronization of estrus, maternal heterosis and more. Program details are available from the Russell County K-State Research and Extension Office at 785-483-3157. -30- K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan. Story by: lhollis@oznet.ksu.edu |