About the Authors

Bryony A. Jones

bajones@rvc.ac.uk

Affiliation Department of Population & Production Health, Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Herts, United Kingdom

Carola Sauter-Louis

Affiliation Clinic for Ruminants, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Munich, Oberschleissheim, Germany

Joerg Henning

Affiliation School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia

Alexander Stoll

Affiliation Clinic for Ruminants, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Munich, Oberschleissheim, Germany

Mirjam Nielen

Affiliation Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Gerdien Van Schaik

Affiliation GD Animal Health Service, Deventer, The Netherlands

Anja Smolenaars

Affiliation GD Animal Health Service, Deventer, The Netherlands

Matthijs Schouten

Affiliation Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Ingrid den Uijl

Affiliation GD Animal Health Service, Deventer, The Netherlands

Christine Fourichon

Affiliation UMR1300 Biology, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis in Animal Health, INRA, LUNAM Université, Oniris, Ecole nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l’alimentation Nantes Atlantique Nantes, France

Raphael Guatteo

Affiliation UMR1300 Biology, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis in Animal Health, INRA, LUNAM Université, Oniris, Ecole nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l’alimentation Nantes Atlantique Nantes, France

Aurélien Madouasse

Affiliation UMR1300 Biology, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis in Animal Health, INRA, LUNAM Université, Oniris, Ecole nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l’alimentation Nantes Atlantique Nantes, France

Simon Nusinovici

Affiliation UMR1300 Biology, Epidemiology and Risk Analysis in Animal Health, INRA, LUNAM Université, Oniris, Ecole nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l’alimentation Nantes Atlantique Nantes, France

Piet Deprez

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Biology of Large Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium

Sarne De Vliegher

Affiliation Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium

Jozef Laureyns

Affiliation Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium

Richard Booth

Affiliation Department of Pathology and Infectious Diseases, Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Herts, United Kingdom

Jackie M. Cardwell

Affiliation Department of Population & Production Health, Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Herts, United Kingdom

Dirk U. Pfeiffer

Affiliation Department of Population & Production Health, Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Herts, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

The study was funded by Pfizer Animal Health, the manufacturer of PregSure BVD vaccine. However, the funding agreement allowed us to independently publish our findings, subject to giving Pfizer 30 days notice of the results. Three of the co-authors (GVS, AS, MS) are affiliated to GD Animal Health Service, which is a private company that provides diagnostic services for livestock and carries out the national animal health surveillance in the Netherlands. There is no conflict of interest with the work that led to this paper, given that GD has no interest in the vaccine or in the outcome of the study. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: BAJ CSL JH MN GVS A. Stoll MS CF RG PD SDV RB JMC DUP. Performed the experiments: CSL JH A. Smolenaars A. Stoll MS RG AM PD JL. Analyzed the data: BAJ MN GVS IDU CF RG AM SN SDV JMC DUP. Wrote the paper: BAJ CSL MN GVS IDU CF RG AM PD SDV JL RB JMC DUP.