Understanding Pestivirus: Upcoming BIGG workshop hosts leading veterinary experts
Cattle producers and Veterinarians across South Australia are invited to attend a rare deep dive into pestivirus (also known as BVDV) at the upcoming Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) Pestivirus Workshop. To be held on Wednesday 22 October at Springton Hall (Springton SA) the full-day event will bring together two of Australia’s leading veterinary experts—Professor Michael McGowan and Dr Enoch Bergman—for an in-depth exploration of pestivirus.
“The simple truth is that pestivirus costs producers money and more often than not, producers are unaware of it in their herds. This is a rare opportunity to get an understanding of this debilitating disease and how to cost effectively manage it” said event organiser, BIGG Board Member and Barossa cattle producer Julian Maul.
One of Australia’s most widespread and economically damaging cattle diseases, pestivirus causes abortion, ill-thrift in young animals, diarrhoea and respiratory disease. As transmission is via direct contact with a carrier animal, control measures centre around identifying and removing carrier animals and/or providing immunity through vaccination to animals.
In conjunction with the workshop, Dr Enoch Bergman is o ering free pestivirus testing and expert advice to cattle producers. Attendees are encouraged to submit blood samples of 5% (or a minimum of 6 heifers) from their replacement heifers by 15 October to check their herd’s immunity status. Dr Enoch Bergman will discuss your test results and options, either anonymously or openly, at the workshop.
The BIGG Pestivirus Workshop is a FREE event, 9.30am to 3.30pm, inclusive of lunch.
To register your attendance and/ or learn more about the workshop and testing offer please visit www.bigg.org.au/pestivirus-workshop.
This event has been proudly supported by the SA Cattle Industry Fund.
Workshop presenters' biographies:
Professor Michael McGowan
Professor Michael McGowan has held academic roles at The University of Queensland and The Royal Veterinary College, London, and was a founding diplomate of the European College of Animal Reproduction. Michael completed a PhD focused on embryo-foetal loss in cattle, particularly the impact of pestivirus (BVDV). His research has also spanned leptospirosis, heat stress, neosporosis, bull management, and reproductive performance in cattle. Now Emeritus Professor of Livestock Medicine at UQ, he is currently working on practical approaches to controlling trichomoniasis in extensively managed beef herds.
Dr Enoch Bergman
Dr. Enoch Bergman pioneered ear notch testing for the diagnosis of animals Persistently Infected with BVDV within Australia after establishing the first facility in the southern hemisphere offering the service to veterinarians and producers. He went on to validate a BVDV ELISA for measuring the immune response from the blood or milk of individual animals as well as Bulk Milk Testing to assess the average immune status of lactating populations. Enoch has spent nearly the last 20 years tailoring his advice to utilize these tools and Pestigard (the only commercially available vaccine for BVDV) to help producers systematically and cost effectively manage BVDV.