In a herd depopulation strategy, what triggers condemnation of the entire herd?

• A. Removal of all animals in the herd
• B. Positive animals culled only
• C. Quarantine of positives
• D. Detection of any positive animal results in condemnation of the entire herd

Answer: (D)

In a herd depopulation strategy, the goal is complete eradication of the disease from that herd, so the detection of any infected animal leads to condemning the entire herd. This approach assumes that infection could be present beyond what is detected by tests (due to imperfect sensitivity or hidden carriers), and stopping transmission requires removing all animals at once rather than selectively culling positives. Quarantining positives or culling only the positives would not guarantee eradication if others are infected but not identified, and quarantine is a containment step, not condemnation of the whole herd. Removing all animals is the action taken, but the trigger for that action in this strategy is that any positive result has been found, prompting whole-herd condemnation.