Three farmed deer in east Sussex, England, have tested positive for bluetongue virus serotype three (BTV-3).

Earlier this week, a sheep in Buckinghamshire was confirmed positive following a report of suspicious clinical signs and last week, one ewe in Dorset and one lamb in Hampshire tested positive.

It brings to 13 the number of cases of bluetongue in England for the 2025/2026 vector season.

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This week, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said that, following a surge in the numbers of cases on the continent, the overall risk of incursion of bluetongue into Britain had increased to medium (occurs regularly).

“This is increased from the low (rare, but does occur) risk from our December 2024 preliminary outbreak assessment.

“However, the nuance of airborne incursion of BTV infected vectors is captured elsewhere in the bi-weekly reports and risk levels for that specific pathway will likely fluctuate with meteorological conditions and disease circulation on the near continent,” it said.

EU situation

BTV-3 has been reported in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and Spain this year.

“France reported a large increase in BTV-3, with 1,104 confirmed reports in July compared to only 13 in June,” DEFRA said.

Another strain of the virus, BTV-8, has been reported for the first time in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia.

“BTV-8 continues to be reported in Greece, France, Italy, North Macedonia and Spain. Again, France has reported a large increase in the number of BTV-8 cases, with 985 reported in July compared to 75 in June. Italy has also reported an increase in BTV-8 cases with 468 in July, up from 101 in June,” it said.