Ice-berg Diseases in Sheep – Border Disease (BD)

Borders Disease – Border Disease (BD) was initially identified in the UK during 1959. Often referred to as “hairy shaker disease”, Border Disease is caused by a pestivirus very similar to the one which causes Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in cattle. Border Disease has the ability to increase the proportion of barren ewes within a flock by 2-8% per year, with infected lambs growing on average 20% slower than uninfected lambs throughout the first six weeks of life. At present, there is no commercially available vaccine for BD within the UK – however, suspect animals can be tested for the virus.