Bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) – Wales movement control change from 21 September 2025

In line with industry advice, from 12 noon on 21 September 2025, some movement restrictions will be eased for all animals vaccinated against Bluetongue Virus Serotype 3 (BTV-3) moving from the restricted zone into Wales. This change follows requests from the livestock industry and aims to support its operations while maintaining disease control.

Temperatures in Wales during late September are usually low enough to reduce the risk of the BTV-3 virus completing its incubation period in newly infected midges. However, the disease can still be transmitted:

1. By midges that were infected earlier in the season.
2. By infected male animals during breeding.

What’s Changing?

1. Animals that have completed a primary vaccination scheme with any BTV-3 vaccine as per the product information datasheet and show no signs of illness can move into Wales without a pre-movement test, under the conditions of a general licence. Vaccination for animals moving under authority of this licence must have been reported on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-your-use-of-the-bluetongue-serotype-3-btv-3-vaccine. The general licence will permit any vaccinated animal to move from the RZ to Wales to live, this includes farm-to-farm, via markets, and from shows or collection centres.
2. This new licence will supersede the measures for ‘Specified Green Markets’ in England (introduced on 18^th August) and under the new licence arrangements, markets in both England and Wales will be able to sell vaccinated and unvaccinated livestock at the same sale. Only vaccinated animals or those that have received a negative pre-movement test will be able to move from a market in the restricted zone to Wales. Markets will need to follow an approved process and will be issued guidance in partnership with LAA to assist in confirming vaccination status.
3. Animals going to slaughter can continue to move under the current general licence, but slaughterhouses will no longer need to be designated after 21 September. The general licence will also be amended to include slaughter markets and collection centres for onward movement to a slaughterhouse and will supersede the current ‘Bluetongue Approved Red Market’ process in Wales. There is no vaccination requirement for animals moving under this licence.
4. Non-vaccinated animals will still need a negative pre-movement test, and a specific licence from APHA to enable movements to live in Wales from the RZ.
5. Animals which test positive for Bluetongue or are tested in a batch in which one or more animals test positive for Bluetongue cannot move to Wales. Keepers have the option to either pre-movement test again after 30 days or vaccinate the animals.

These changes to animal movement restrictions reflect industry’s desire to facilitate the vital trade in breeding stock; they do not mean the disease itself has become less serious.  Bluetongue can cause high death rates in sheep, reproductive problems, and reduced milk production in cattle. Vaccination is strongly recommended to protect animals and reduce the impact of the disease. However, it is not a guarantee of protection for herds and flocks, as vaccinated animals can still carry and spread the virus, even if they don’t show any signs of illness. According to the manufacturers, vaccines help reduce the amount of virus in the blood, but only the Bultavo-3 vaccine for cattle can stop the virus from entering the bloodstream.

The website will be updated on Friday 5^th September with full details on how to move animals under these new rules, and the general licence will be published ahead of these changes.

Notes

1.  A primary vaccination scheme of a bluetongue virus serotype 3 vaccination means:

• For sheep – one injection of Syvazul or Bultavo, or two injections of Bluevac 3 weeks apart, and the onset of immunity period has passed.
• For cattle – two injections of any vaccine 3 weeks apart, and the onset of immunity period has passed.

For Bluevac-3 and Bultavo-3 the onset of immunity is 3 weeks (21 days) after completion of the primary vaccination scheme for sheep and cattle. For Syvazul the onset of immunity is 4 weeks (28 days) after completion of the primary vaccination scheme for sheep, and 3 weeks for cattle. Any such animals must have received any revaccination as required by the product information datasheet, or if 6 months have elapsed since the completion date of primary vaccination. SPCs can be consulted on: https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInformationDatabase.

2. “Animal” means a ruminating animal or camelid. Ruminating animals include but are not limited to cattle, sheep, goats, deer. Camelids include but are not limited to llamas and alpacas.