The Republic of Ireland government has submitted plans to the European Commission which would secure a status of being free of bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) by January 1, 2023.
This does not mean there would be zero cases of BVD but that numbers would be below a threshold of 99.8% of establishments, meaning 99.9% of the total bovine population would be free of BVD at any given time.
Read more: Orkney's cattle herd declared BVD-free
This effectively means the maximum number of herds which could have BVD in Ireland would be between 200 and 300 at any one time, but ongoing monitoring of the disease will continue.
If the BVD-free status is awarded it would mark 10 years since the full BVD eradication programme came into place in 2013.
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