Key facts
- 3,472 bluetongue cases were recorded in England, Scotland and Wales since July, more than five times the past three seasons combined.
- Devon recorded 1,291 cases, Somerset 373 and Cornwall 352, the worst-hit areas in the south-west.
- Catherine McLaughlin of the National Farmers Union told MPs farmers faced animal deaths, reproductive losses and disruption to breeding and sales.
- Dr Gwen Rees of the British Veterinary Association told MPs there is no direct treatment for bluetongue.
- Rees said the cost of vaccination and uncertainty about infection risk deterred some farmers from immunizing before the outbreak.
The worst bluetongue season on record has been a major animal welfare crisis in Great Britain, MPs were told, with farmers placed under severe emotional stress. Bluetongue is a viral disease affecting sheep, cattle and goats that can cause fever, lesions, stillbirths and death; the tongue may turn blue and protrude from the mouth.
The virus, which originated in Africa and is spread by biting midges, has moved into Europe over the past two decades, a development the World Organisation for Animal Health links to climate breakdown. The strain affecting livestock, serotype 3 (BTV-3), was first found in England in 2023.
The 2025-26 season has been the worst on record. There have been 3,472 cases recorded in England, Scotland and Wales since July, more than five times the past three seasons combined. The worst-hit areas are in the south-west: Devon has recorded 1,291 cases, Somerset 373 and Cornwall 352.
Catherine McLaughlin, chief animal health and welfare adviser at the National Farmers Union, told MPs the outbreak had placed farmers across the country under severe emotional pressure and stress. Farmers have faced animal deaths, severe disease, reproductive losses, milk and growth losses, extra labor, veterinary costs and disruption to breeding and sales, she said. The effect on fertility was likely to last, she said, with many farms facing very low numbers of lambs in the spring and a large financial impact.
Dr Gwen Rees, president of the British Veterinary Association, said there was no direct treatment for bluetongue, leaving vets little to do beyond supporting animals and hoping they recover. She called it a major animal welfare crisis. The cost of vaccination and uncertainty about infection risk had deterred some farmers from immunizing animals before the outbreak took hold, she told MPs, saying the vaccine is not cheap and margins are extremely tight.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defines a case as a premises where at least one animal with bluetongue is present, so the number of animals affected is likely to be higher than the number of reported cases.