Bovine Viral Diarrhoea eradication programmes provide major welfare benefits by eliminating a virus that causes disease, immunosuppression, and reproductive failure.
BVD causes significant welfare costs at multiple levels - PI cattle suffer chronic immune dysfunction and early death, herd-mates experience respiratory and reproductive disease, and foetal losses cause reproductive failure. BVD eradication removes all these welfare costs permanently. Countries that have achieved eradication demonstrate that the investment is worthwhile both economically and in terms of animal welfare.