BROOKINGS, SD (KELO-AM) Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infections are one of the major contributors to bovine respiratory disease (BRD), resulting in losses in U.S. herds estimated at $2 billion per year, according to SDSU professor Chris Chase of the veterinary and biomedical science department.
Since 1996, the Agricultural Experiment Station researcher has been studying BVDV - how it occurs and what it does to sabotage the animal's immune system. "It is an immune-suppressive disease," he explains, making the animal vulnerable to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
The virus results in either a transient infection that affects the animal for a few weeks before the immune system fights off the virus; or a persistent infection causing the animal to shed the virus for its entire life.
This information was originally published in the AES Annual Report.