Scottish BVD Eradication Scheme: guidance

Approved laboratories

Under the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (Scotland) Order 2019, samples submitted for testing as a mandatory annual screening test must be sent to a laboratory approved by the Scottish Government for that purpose.

To submit a sample to an approved laboratory, please use a form provided by them or the standard submission forms (vet and farmer use).

Agri-food and Biosciences Institute
APHA
Axiom Veterinary Laboratories Ltd
Biobest
Farmlab Diagnostics
National Milk Laboratories
SRUC
The Cattle Information Services (CIS)

Laboratory approval

To gain approval, a laboratory must:

1.     Hold a current accreditation of ISO17025 from an organisation that is itself accredited to ISO 17011 (EN 45002/3) for testing for BVD antigen and/or antibody.

2.     Be located in the European Union.

3.     Agree to meet the duties of approved laboratories as described below.

Duties on approved laboratories

The laboratory must test samples submitted under the Order within five days of receiving the samples.

The laboratory must declare a status for the samples submitted. This will be based on the test results generated by the samples submitted and other information provided, such as vaccination history. The status will be either:

• Negative for evidence of BVDV infection

or, if  the above status cannot be given,

• Not-Negative for evidence of BVDV infection

Laboratories will use their professional judgement in reaching a decision on herd status. They may request such information as they reasonably require of the person submitting the samples in order to reach a herd status. Where insufficient information is supplied in spite of such a request being made, the laboratory may withhold a declaration, or declare a not-negative status.

The laboratory must inform the keeper of the herd status.

Laboratories may charge their customers at whatever level they decide, and at different levels for different types of test. Fee levels for all types of test should be published on the laboratory’s website.

Laboratories must electronically submit herd status data to ScotEID, the central BVD database, together with the individual official cattle ID numbers for each animal tested, the test type and the result from each sample.

Cattle that test positive will be presumed to be persistently infected (PI) until proved otherwise by a future test.

Laboratories must keep records for at least three years. The Scottish Government may request access for themselves or specify that it be given to research providers on their behalf.