Defra's latest situation report states that 343 cases of bluetongue have been confirmed in Great Britain during the 2025 to 2026 season, counted from 1 July 2025. England accounts for 320 cases, comprising 308 BTV-3 cases, 4 BTV-8 cases, 7 mixed BTV-3 and BTV-8 cases, and 1 case where the serotype was not identified. Wales has recorded 24 BTV-3 cases, while Scotland has recorded none. The same update notes that Northern Ireland has separately confirmed 5 BTV-3 cases. Defra also points keepers and advisers to the official case map, which shows premises in Great Britain where animals have tested positive by PCR for BTV-3, BTV-8 or BTV-12. The department's standing advice remains that suspected disease should be reported promptly.
The most recent confirmations show how infection is being detected on farms during spring 2026. Defra reported a new BTV-3 case in South Yorkshire on 29 May 2026 after sudden milk drop, with other cattle on the holding aborting and calving prematurely. A day earlier, Wales confirmed a BTV-3 case in a cow in Ceredigion after the birth of a dummy calf, with the calf also testing positive. Other May and April notifications in England followed late-term abortions, stillbirths, premature calving, neurological signs, poor sucking reflexes, blindness and facial deformities in calves. Cases were reported in Cumbria, Wiltshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Derbyshire, and one May case involved a suckler cow where the serotype could not be determined. Across these updates, Defra repeatedly recorded the initial trigger as a report of suspicious clinical signs.
Defra's risk assessment has shifted with the season. The department states that the midges which spread bluetongue became active again on 31 March 2026 and that recent warm weather has pushed cumulative temperatures high enough for the virus to develop inside the vector. On that basis, onward transmission is now considered possible. The current risk of bluetongue virus incursion from all routes, including serotypes not currently circulating in England, remains at medium, which the government describes as occurring regularly. Airborne incursion is assessed as negligible. The guidance also reminds operators that infection can arise through germinal products, including semen, ova and embryos.
Control measures now rest on country-wide restricted zones in both England and Wales. Defra states that the whole of England is within a bluetongue restricted zone, while the Welsh Government's all-Wales restricted zone has been in force since 00:01 on 10 November 2025. For livestock keepers, that means routine movements have been simplified within and between the two countries. Animals may move within England without a specific bluetongue licence or pre-movement testing, and livestock movements between England and Wales no longer require bluetongue vaccination or separate mitigation measures. The main area where controls remain tighter is germinal products.
In England, freezing semen, ova or embryos anywhere in the country still requires a specific licence and testing, with sampling, postage and laboratory costs falling to the keeper. In Wales, donor animals must continue to be tested before germinal products are frozen and marketed, a step the Welsh guidance presents as a quality assurance measure and a check against longer-term transmission. Defra also points readers to separate licensing routes for movements from the restricted zone to Scotland or Wales, for the movement, freezing and storage of germinal products, and for certain licensed movements from Northern Ireland into Great Britain. The practical position is that eased livestock movements do not remove the need to check the exact route, species and product category before any consignment is arranged.
Vaccination remains one component of the response rather than a substitute for controls. Defra directs keepers to dedicated BTV-3 vaccination guidance and to separate advice on slowing the spread of bluetongue through biosecurity. In policy terms, vaccination sits alongside surveillance, movement compliance and early reporting. The latest government material also links bluetongue control to the wider rules on livestock identification and movement records for cattle, bison, buffalo, sheep, goats and deer. Camelid keepers, including those with llamas and alpacas, are told to contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency if the rules are unclear. Separate rules continue to apply to imports, exports and EU trade in animals and animal products.
The current position sits within a longer run of detections. Defra says the first case of the 2025 to 2026 vector season was confirmed on 11 July 2025. Before that, the department recorded 160 BTV-3 cases in England and 2 cases linked to high-risk moves in Wales between 26 August 2024 and 31 May 2025, plus 1 BTV-12 case in England on 7 February 2025, bringing that earlier total to 163. Looking further back, Defra confirmed 126 BTV-3 cases on 73 premises in England between November 2023 and March 2024, the first UK incursions for more than 15 years. The previous confirmed outbreak before that was BTV-8 in 2007 and 2008. Defra continues to place the response within its disease control framework in England and has published webinars, leaflets, videos and posters to support implementation. For livestock businesses and advisers, the latest update shows that bluetongue is now a continuing animal health management issue, with reporting, zoning and movement compliance forming part of routine planning.