|
Bluetongue update: Further BTV-3 cases have been confirmed within the England Restricted Zone (RZ) and Infected Area. This brings the total number of cases to 23 (as of 02 September 2025), all of which are in England to date. The risk of bluetongue spreading remains very high. Please see the latest information and guidance that’s available on GOV.UK.
Licensing
You must have a licence to move animals/germinal products from England into Scotland or Wales and some germinal products within England so please check GOV.UK, GOV.SCOT and GOV.WALES to find out more about the licences required and see GOV.UK to apply.
You must apply for a licence prior to sampling animals for pre-movement testing.
Please allow at least 10 days for licence application to be processed before your planned move date.
Bluetongue movement control relaxations from 21 September 2025 – Scotland
From 21 September 2025, there will be a relaxation of certain movement controls on bluetongue susceptible animals moving from the restricted zone into Scotland.
Please check GOV.SCOT for further information.
Markets – changes to the Bluetongue restrictions in place in Wales came into effect on 18 August
Important changes to the Bluetongue restrictions in place for Autumn sales and markets in Wales came into effect from Monday 18 August.
Please check GOV.WALES for more details.
Bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) – Wales movement control change from 21 September 2025
In line with industry advice, from 12 noon on 21 September 2025, some movement restrictions will be eased for all animals vaccinated against Bluetongue Virus Serotype 3 (BTV-3) moving from the restricted zone into Wales. This change follows requests from the livestock industry and aims to support its operations while maintaining disease control.
Temperatures in Wales during late September are usually low enough to reduce the risk of the BTV-3 virus completing its incubation period in newly infected midges. However, the disease can still be transmitted:
- By midges that were infected earlier in the season.
- By infected male animals during breeding.
|
What’s Changing?
- Animals that have completed a primary vaccination scheme with any BTV-3 vaccine as per the product information datasheet and show no signs of illness can move into Wales without a pre-movement test, under the conditions of a general licence. Vaccination for animals moving under authority of this licence must have been reported as advised on GOV.UK. The general licence will permit any vaccinated animal to move from the Restricted Zone (RZ) to Wales to live, this includes farm-to-farm, via markets, and from shows or collection centres.
- This new licence will supersede the measures for ‘Specified Green Markets’ in England (introduced on 18 August 2025) and under the new licence arrangements, markets in both England and Wales will be able to sell vaccinated and unvaccinated livestock at the same sale. Only vaccinated animals or those that have received a negative pre-movement test will be able to move from a market in the RZ to Wales. Markets will need to follow an approved process and will be issued guidance in partnership with the Livestock Auctioneers’ Association (LAA) to assist in confirming vaccination status.
- Animals going to slaughter can continue to move under the current general licence, but slaughterhouses will no longer need to be designated after 21 September. The general licence will also be amended to include slaughter markets and collection centres for onward movement to a slaughterhouse and will supersede the current ‘Bluetongue Approved Red Market’ process in Wales. There is no vaccination requirement for animals moving under this licence.
- Non-vaccinated animals will still need a negative pre-movement test, and a specific licence from APHA to enable movements to live in Wales from the RZ.
- Animals which test positive for Bluetongue or are tested in a batch in which one or more animals test positive for Bluetongue cannot move to Wales. Keepers have the option to either pre-movement test again after 30 days or vaccinate the animals.
|
More information will be published on GOV.WALES shortly.
These changes to animal movement restrictions reflect industry’s desire to facilitate the vital trade in breeding stock; they do not mean the disease itself has become less serious. Bluetongue can cause high death rates in sheep, reproductive problems, and reduced milk production in cattle.
Vaccination is strongly recommended to protect animals and reduce the impact of the disease. However, it is not a guarantee of protection for herds and flocks, as vaccinated animals can still carry and spread the virus, even if they don’t show any signs of illness. According to the manufacturers, vaccines help reduce the amount of virus in the blood, but only the Bultavo-3 vaccine for cattle can stop the virus from entering the bloodstream.
Vaccination
Vaccination remains the most effective option for disease control. Please see GOV.UK for further details. It is still not too late to vaccinate ahead of the autumn breeding season.
Bluetongue testing and sampling guidance for vets
Guidance for vets on bluetongue testing, sampling and sample submission is available on the Improve International website and GOV.UK. Please do not phone The Pirbright Institute for guidance as they are unable to answer queries and please make sure you are using the updated sample submission form.
Report suspicion of disease
Bluetongue is a notifiable disease so if you suspect it, you must report it immediately as failure to do so is breaking the law, this includes if you are in the England Restricted Zone. Please see GOV.UK for more information on how to contact APHA to report the suspicion of bluetongue and to find out when bluetongue can be ruled out, and when an APHA investigation or bluetongue testing are needed.
In England, where animals test positive for BTV-3, neither the premises or the animal are put under restrictions. Keepers are urged to report suspicion immediately and to have sick animals tested so you can confirm or rule out bluetongue as the reason for clinical signs.
How to get the latest information
If you want to ensure you get the latest bluetongue related information, you can register to receive email notifications when the GOV.UK bluetongue page is updated.
Please follow the registration process by clicking on the ‘Get emails about this page’ box near the top of this page on GOV.UK.
You can also register with the APHA animal disease alert subscription service to receive emails or texts about the latest exotic notifiable animal disease outbreaks in Great Britain.
Many thanks
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
Contact us
This email and any attachments is intended for the named recipient only.
If you have received it in error you have no authority to use, disclose, store or copy any of its contents and you should destroy it and inform the sender.
Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked for known viruses whilst within APHA systems we can accept no responsibility once it has left our systems.
Communications on APHA computer systems may be monitored and/or recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.
|
