According to Defra’s latest situation update, Great Britain has recorded 337 confirmed bluetongue cases in the 2025 to 2026 season since 1 July 2025. England accounts for 314 cases, made up of 303 cases of BTV-3, 4 cases of BTV-8 and 7 cases where both serotypes were detected. Wales has recorded 23 cases of BTV-3, while Scotland has recorded no cases. Defra says the location of premises with one or more PCR-positive animals for BTV-3, BTV-8 or BTV-12 is published on the official bluetongue case map. Separately, Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs reports 5 confirmed cases of BTV-3.
The recent update is dominated by congenital and neurological findings in calves. On 20 March 2026, Defra confirmed 3 new BTV-3 cases in England after reports involving calves in Hampshire with star-gazing and head tilt, cows in Cumbria tested after decreased fertility and the birth of a blind calf, and a weak calf in Staffordshire that failed to adapt. A further BTV-3 case was confirmed in Lancashire on 23 March, involving a blind calf, followed by a BTV-8 case in East Sussex on 24 March after a late-term abortion or stillbirth. On 27 March, Defra confirmed another BTV-3 case in West Yorkshire after brain deformities were found at post-mortem in a lethargic calf that did not feed. On 1 April, two further BTV-3 cases were confirmed in England: a blind calf in Gloucestershire with little to no suck reflex, and a cow in Cornwall tested after 3 dummy calves were born in the same herd over the previous 2 weeks and all died within 24 hours.
Defra’s April reports then recorded a further sequence of BTV-3 confirmations linked to abnormal births and neurological signs. One case was confirmed in Devon on 8 April, involving a calf born with neurological signs and a poor sucking reflex. Wales recorded a new case on 10 April in Powys, where a calf showed convulsions, star-gazing and deafness, with post-mortem findings of brain cavitation. England then recorded another case in Cornwall on 14 April in a calf born blind with neurological signs. On 17 April, Defra confirmed 2 more BTV-3 cases in England: 3 calves in Wiltshire, 2 born blind and 1 with facial deformities, and 1 calf in West Sussex born with neurological signs and a reduced sucking reflex. On 21 April, 2 further English cases were confirmed, one in East Sussex and one in Derbyshire, both involving calves born with neurological signs, while the East Sussex case also followed a history of dummy calves in the same herd.
Defra says temperatures are rising and the midges that spread bluetongue became active again on 2 April 2026. Even so, the official assessment is that the risk of spread through midges remains very low because conditions have not been warm enough for long enough for the virus to develop inside the vector. That does not remove the need for controls. Defra states that animals can still become infected through germinal products, meaning semen, ova and embryos, and that the risk of incursion from all routes remains at medium. The department describes the risk of airborne incursion as negligible.
Control measures remain centred on restricted zones. The whole of England is designated as a bluetongue restricted zone, which means animals can move within England without a specific bluetongue licence or pre-movement testing. The position is different for germinal products: a specific licence is required anywhere in England to freeze semen, ova or embryos, and testing is mandatory, with sampling, postage and testing costs falling to keepers. Wales also remains under country-wide controls. The Welsh Government’s all-Wales restricted zone has been in force since 00:01 on 10 November 2025. Under that arrangement, livestock can move between England and Wales without bluetongue vaccination or other mitigation measures, but restrictions on germinal products continue and donor animals must still be tested before freezing and marketing.
For producers, markets and breeding businesses, the practical rule set now depends on where animals are moving and whether the movement involves live stock or reproductive material. Official guidance covers movement within the restricted zone, general licences for movements from the restricted zone into Scotland or Wales, and the conditions for moving certain animals from Northern Ireland to Great Britain under licence. Separate identification and reporting rules still apply alongside disease controls. Defra directs keepers to existing guidance for cattle, bison and buffalo, sheep and goats, and deer. Camelid keepers, including llama and alpaca owners, are advised to contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency if they are unsure which rules apply.
Defra continues to direct livestock keepers towards BTV-3 vaccination guidance and wider biosecurity advice aimed at slowing spread. The official message remains clear: keepers should stay alert for signs of bluetongue and report suspicion promptly. That matters particularly where calves are born blind, weak or with neurological abnormalities, as several of the latest confirmations followed that route. The department also signposts separate rules on imports, exports and EU trade in animals and animal products, along with recorded webinars and public information material. Taken together, the published guidance covers surveillance, movement management, breeding controls and public information rather than relying on a single restriction.
The present control regime sits within a longer outbreak record. Defra says the first case of the 2025 to 2026 vector season was confirmed on 11 July 2025. Before that, 160 BTV-3 cases were confirmed in England and 2 cases arose from high-risk moves in Wales between 26 August 2024 and 31 May 2025. A separate BTV-12 case was confirmed in England on 7 February 2025, bringing that total to 163. Defra also records 126 BTV-3 cases in England on 73 premises between November 2023 and March 2024, covering 119 cattle and 7 sheep. Those were the first UK incursions of BTV-3 in more than 15 years. The last confirmed UK outbreak before that was BTV-8 in 2007 to 2008. Current controls sit within Defra’s Bluetongue disease control framework in England.