First case of bluetongue serotype 12 confirmed in England
11th February 2025
A case of bluetongue serotype 12 was confirmed in England in a single cow in the restricted zone in Kent. This is the first time the serotype has been detected in the UK.
The BTV-12 case was detected as part of the annual bluetongue surveillance. No additional zones are currently planned, but the restricted zone will remain in place. Defra said that further testing and epidemiological investigations will be undertaken.
Livestock farmers are no longer required to carry out post-movement testing for animals moved out of the zone, provided they have a valid negative pre-movement test result or slaughter animals originating from the restricted zone at designated slaughterhouses.
However, they still must have a licence to move animals or germinal products out of a restricted zone and arrange for a pre-movement test for all animals moving out of the restricted zone unless they are moving direct to slaughter or via a dedicated slaughter market.
What is more, the farmers have to comply with any post-movement testing requirements set out in their licence or restriction notice if they moved animals out of the restricted zone on or before 20th January 2025 and apply for a licence to freeze germinal products within the restricted zone.
More bluetongue cases confirmed
In January, 16 cases of BTV-3 have been detected in premises outside the current restricted zone. The premises are in Bath, North East Somerset (BANES), Somerset, Shropshire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Anglesey, Gwynedd, North Yorkshire and Cornwall.
Additionally, two new cases were confirmed in the restricted zone in Suffolk after one calf born prematurely with suspect clinical signs and a bull was confirmed positive following non-negative pre-movement tests.
Defra confirmed that the total number of BTV-3 cases in Great Britain for the 2024 to 2025 vector season is 201 (199 in England and two high-risk moves in Wales).
There is one confirmed case of BTV-12 in Great Britain for the 2024 to 2025 vector season.
The location of all premises in Great Britain where one or more animals have tested positive by PCR to bluetongue serotype 3 is available on the bluetongue case map.
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