Table 1 Animal Health Ireland’s portfolio of bovine health programmes, including national key indicators and programme achievements
Programme | Health focus | Date began | National key indicators | Programme achievements | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BVD national eradication programme | Bovine viral diarrhoea | Voluntary 2012, compulsory 2013 | - Decrease of persistently infected calves from 0.66% in 2013 to 0.04% in 2019 - Decrease in proportion of positive breeding herds from 11.30% in 2013 to 0.77% (390 of 83,000) in 2019 | - Estimated farmer annual net saving of € 85 million in 2019 | |
Irish Johne’s Control Programme | Johne’s disease (Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis) | Pilot (dairy) 2013, Voluntary (dairy) 2017 | - Estimated prevalence in 2005 at herd level was 21.45% (95%CI 18.4–24.9) and at the animal level was 2.86% (95%CI 2.76–2.97) | - 9% of dairy herds participating in 2019, representing 11% of dairy cattle | [2] |
CellCheck | Mastitis | 2012 | - Reduction in national average somatic cell count (SCC) from 234,000 in 2013 to 176,000 in 2019 - Reduction in estimated on-farm antibiotic usage, measured in terms of defined course dose per cow per year, both for dry cow therapy (34% reduction) and in-lactation therapy (15% reduction) during 2013–18, although dry cow therapy has increased subsequently | - Associated economic benefit to farmers and processors estimated at €39 million and €16 million, respectively, in 2017 | [22, 2, 23, 35] McAloon, McCoy, and More, n.d.) L. Shalloo, unpublished data |
Beef HealthCheck | Liver fluke and pneumonia at slaughter | 2016 | - Programme prevalence in 2019 of liver fluke damage or live fluke at slaughter was 11.5% at the animal level and 57.3% at the herd level. | - Farmer and veterinary practitioner access to individualised slaughter reports through a programme database presenting herd- and practice-level dashboards - Data captured on 717,000 cattle and 27,000 herds in 2019 - 17 participating abattoirs - Annual farmer educational events - Economic impact of fluke on steer production investigated - Incorporation of genetic resistance to liver fluke into dairy and beef breeding indices | |
IBR | Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis | Pilot 2018 | - Herd level seroprevalence of 74.9% (95%CI 69.9–79.8%) in 2009. - Beef herd prevalence was estimated at 90% in 2014/15. - Increase in IBR vaccine sales of 12.3% between 2017 and 2019 | - Pilot control programme - Preparations for a national control programme - Commencement of national bulk tank surveillance testing - Information leaflets | |
CalfCare | Diseases and welfare of calves | 2010 | - Information leaflets on best practice - Annual farmer educational events | [4] | |
Parasite Control | Endo- and ectoparasites | 2010 | - Information leaflets on best practice | [6] | |
Biosecurity | Biocontainment and bioexclusion | 2010 | - Information leaflets on best practice | [3] |