Worst ever outbreak of bluetongue hits British farms — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Defra has recorded 2,201 bluetongue cases in the 2026-27 season (1,103 in September alone), surpassing the total of the previous three seasons combined despite only three months having passed.
- The disease has crossed into Scotland for the first time this summer, detected as far north as Aberdeenshire, with Defra noting temperatures remain high enough in many UK areas for the virus to develop inside biting midges.
- BTV-3, the strain currently affecting UK livestock, was first found in England in 2023, and academics say its northward spread is inextricably linked to hotter temperatures caused by the climate crisis.
- NFU vice-president Robyn Munt said farmers are struggling to obtain vaccines through a "demand-led process," adding that the cost and labor burden comes on top of climate-related expenses like drought.
- Tom Cantillon of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit called the record outbreak a "harbinger of things to come," warning that milder winters and hotter summers will allow more pests and pathogens to establish in the UK.
Why it matters: Livestock farmers are absorbing compounded pressure — drought-driven costs have already strained margins, and now a record disease outbreak with difficult vaccine access adds labor demands and potential animal losses. The disease's first appearance in Scotland and as far north as Aberdeenshire signals that bluetongue's viable range is shifting beyond historical climate limits, reshaping disease preparedness for UK agriculture.
Ask SkimNews
