[BVD eradication campaign in Switzerland: first results and outlook]

The Swiss BVD eradication campaign aims at eliminating the disease from the cattle population within a few years. During the initial phase from October 1st to December 31th 2008, all bovines will be individually tested and those found virus-positive slaughtered. In the following secondary phase, all newborn calves will be tested using ear notches taken on the occasion of the regular tagging process. From 2011 onwards, freedom of disease shall be confirmed based on a routine monitoring program, starting with antibody detection in milk of first lactating cows. In order to reduce the number of new infections, all bovines "not yet calved" and destined for shared mountain pastures were pretested in spring 2008. The more than enthusiastic start led to an extension of testing far beyond the targeted segment, resulting in almost 600'000 or more than one third of the population being tested until the end of June, 1.1% of which with a positive result. This overwhelming kick-off was extremely demanding for all parties involved, but also allowed identifying many limiting steps that could be optimized in view of the initial phase.