A number of cases of bluetongue have been confirmed in Great Britain this year.

Since July 2025, there have been 272 cases of bluetongue in Great Britain in the 2025-2026 vector season, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in an update.

In England, there have been 251 cases of bluetongue - including 243 cases of only bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3), one case of only serotype 8 (BTV-8) and seven cases with both BTV-3 and BTV-8.

In Wales, there have been 21 cases of BTV-3.

There have been no cases in Scotland, Defra said.

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

Bluetongue

There have been six new cases of bluetongue in GB confirmed so far in 2026.

The latest case involving five cattle in England was confirmed on January 12, following non-negative results from a private test.

A case of BTV-3 in Devon was confirmed on January 9, following non-negative results from a private test.

There have been other cases confirmed in 2026 in Britain, including in Devon, Cheshire and Cornwall.

Risk level

Defra said that 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," it warned.

"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."

Bluetongue vaccine in Ireland

In December, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon announced that the use of bluetongue vaccination will be permitted in cattle and sheep in Ireland in 2026.

This followed the recent detection of outbreaks of BTV-3 in Northern Ireland.

With the knowledge that BTV-3 is present on the island, Minister Heydon said that this "changes the risk picture and unfortunately makes it much more likely that the disease will spread during the high-risk season in summer 2026".

For that reason, the decision was taken to permit the use of vaccination against BTV-3 in Irish livestock, according to the minister.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine told Agriland it is advising cattle and sheep farmers concerned about the risk of bluetongue to have a conversation with their veterinary practitioner about whether the use of BTV3 vaccines is the right choice for their circumstances.