Bluetongue: latest situation

Contents:

• Total number of cases
• Latest updates
• Risk level
• Control zones
• Moving animals and animal products
• Vaccination and biosecurity
• Livestock identification and movement rules
• Importing animals and animal products
• Webinars, leaflets, videos and posters
• Defra’s bluetongue control strategy

Total number of cases

There have been 304 cases of bluetongue in Great Britain in the 2025 bluetongue season (since 1 July 2025). In:

• England, there have been 282 cases of bluetongue - including 274 cases of only BTV-3, 1 case of only BTV-8 and 7 cases with both BTV-3 and BTV-8
• Wales, there have been 22 cases of BTV-3

There have been no cases in Scotland.

The location of all premises in Great Britain where one or more animals have tested positive by PCR for bluetongue serotype 3, serotype 8 or serotype 12 is available on the bluetongue case map.

There are 5 confirmed cases of BTV-3 in Northern Ireland.

Latest updates

24 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 24 February 2026 following private testing:

• 1 bovine in Derbyshire tested positive following private testing

23 February 2026

Three new cases of BTV-3 in England were confirmed on 23 February 2026 following private testing:

• 1 bull in Cheshire tested positive following collection of germinal products
• 1 sheep in East Sussex tested positive following private testing
• 2 rewilded bovines in Kent tested positive following private testing

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 24 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 aborted calf in Nottinghamshire tested positive following finding of abnormal brain development at postmortem examination

19 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 19 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 bovine tested positive private testing in Cheshire

13 February 2026

Four new cases of BTV-3 in England were confirmed on 13 February 2026 following reports of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 cow and its 6-day old calf both tested positive following birth of the calf with neurological signs in Buckinghamshire
• 1 cow tested positive following an abortion in Somerset
• 1 cow tested positive following a series of abortions in the herd in Cheshire
• 1 cow and 1 calf tested positive following birth of 2 calves that were blind and had neurological signs in Derbyshire

12 February 2026

Two new cases of BTV-3 in England were confirmed on 12 February 2026 following reports of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 aborted bovine calf tested following finding of abnormal brain development at postmortem examination in Shropshire. Follows approximately 20 other abortions in the herd
• 2 cows and 1 calf tested positive following birth of two calves with neurological signs in Staffordshire

One new case of BTV-3 in Wales was confirmed on 12 February 2026 following non-negative results from private pre-movement tests:

• 1 bull tested privately as part of pre-movement testing in Denbighshire, Wales

9 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 9 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 cow tested positive following birth of an abnormal calf in Oxfordshire

6 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 6 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 aborted bovine foetus with brain malformation in Cumbria

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 6 February 2026 following non-negative results from private tests:

• 2 cows in Kent tested privately following several calves in herd being born with a lack of coordination and inability to suck

5 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 5 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 2 cows tested in Staffordshire following a series of abortions in the herd

4 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 4 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 1 aborted bovine foetus with brain malformation in Devon

3 February 2026

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 3 February 2026 following a report of suspicious clinical signs:

• 2 cows tested following abortions, dull calves and brain abnormalities in calves in a herd in Oxfordshire

One new case of BTV-3 in England was confirmed on 3 February 2026 following non-negative results from private tests:

• 1 cow in Cumbria tested as part of surveillance following in vitro fertilisation

Risk level

Temperatures have continued to reduce in recent weeks, and experts consider the risk of onward spread by vectors in the south-east, East Anglia, the south-west and the north-east to be negligible. There is however still a risk that animals can get infected from already infected midges or from infected germinal products.

The risk of incursion of bluetongue virus (including serotypes not currently circulating in England) from all routes remains at medium (occurs regularly) although the risk of airborne incursion is now negligible.

Control zones

Check if you’re in a zone on the bluetongue zone map.

Read the details of each zone.

Wales: country-wide restricted zone from 10 November

An all-Wales restricted zone was introduced from 00:01am on 10 November 2025. This has the following effects:

• end of temporary control zone - the temporary control zone and its restrictions have ended
• end of premises-level restrictions - individual premises across Wales are no longer subject to bluetongue-specific movement or control restrictions
• free movement of livestock - livestock movements between England and Wales no longer require bluetongue vaccination or mitigation measures
• continued restrictions on germinal products - you must continue to test donor animals before freezing and marketing germinal products, as this provides quality assurance and reduces the risk of longer-term bluetongue transmission

England: country-wide restricted zone

The whole of England is in a bluetongue restricted zone. You can move animals within England without a specific bluetongue licence or pre-movement testing.

You need a specific licence to freeze germinal products (semen, ova and embryo) anywhere in England and testing is required. Keepers are responsible for the cost of sampling, postage and testing. There is more detail in the declaration.

Moving animals and animal products

Find out about:

• moving animals within the restricted zone
• general licences to move animals and germinal product from the restricted zone to Scotland or Wales
• moving, freezing and storing germinal product
• moving certain animals from Northern Ireland to Great Britain

Vaccination and biosecurity

Find out about:

• BTV-3 vaccination
• how to slow the spread of bluetongue

Livestock identification and movement rules

Find out about:

• keeping cattle, bison and buffalo in England and Wales
• keeping sheep and goats in England
• keeping deer in England: tagging, movement and record keeping rules

Contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)?if you keep camelids (such as llamas or alpacas) or you’re unsure about the rules.

Importing animals and animal products

Check the rules on imports, exports and EU trade of animals and animal products.

Webinars, leaflets, videos and posters

Watch recordings of bluetongue webinars.

Find leaflets, videos and posters about bluetongue.

Defra’s bluetongue control strategy

Defra?controls cases of bluetongue by following the Bluetongue: disease control framework in England.

Historical cases

The first cases of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) of the 2025 to 2026 vector season was confirmed on 11 July 2025.

Prior to this Defra confirmed 160 BTV-3 cases in England and 2 from high risk moves in Wales between 26 August 2024 and 31 May 2025. One case of bluetongue virus serotype 12 (BTV-12) was confirmed in England on 7 February 2025 Giving a total of 163 cases.

Between November 2023 and March 2024 Defra confirmed 126 BTV-3 cases in England on 73 premises (119 cattle and 7 sheep). These BTV-3 cases were the first UK BTV incursions for over 15 years.  Prior to these cases the last confirmed outbreak of bluetongue was an outbreak of bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8), which took place over 2007 to 2008.