The role of molecular-genetic techniques in BVDV eradication in Lower Austria

A voluntary bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) control programme, which later became a compulsory eradication programme, based on the Swedish model was introduced in Lower Austria in 1997. The persistently infected animals were detected by Ag-ELISA and all samples were re-tested by the improved single-tube RT-PCR, employing panpestivirus primers targeting the 5'-UTR of the virus genome. In 2010, the BVDV eradication programme, which became compulsory from 2004, reached the final stage with only five remaining infected herds in which BVDV was difficult to eradicate. To resolve the problem in those herds, a molecular epidemiology approach was used. No differences in the spectrum of BVDV-1 subgenotypes at the beginning and at the final stage of eradication programme were found. The genetic study revealed the importance of human risk factor when finishing an eradication programme. Molecular epidemiology was also used to analyse BVDV isolates associated with re-introductions to BVDV-free herds.