Bluetongue cases surge as farmers face vaccine shortage and testing delays
Over 630 farms across England are now affected by bluetongue, with vaccine shortages and slow testing adding to the worries of livestock farmers before the autumn peak.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Livestock farmers across the UK are facing what many describe as the worst ever outbreak of bluetongue virus, with more than 630 farms now officially reported as affected and the true scale likely to be much larger. The disease, spread by biting midges, has been most severe in the southwest, particularly across Exmoor, but it is expected to spread northwards as the season continues.
The official government count of cases currently stands at 630, but each case represents an affected farm, not an individual animal. On each farm, only a small number of animals have been tested, and with almost 2,500 further tests still waiting to be processed, vets and farmers fear the official map of the outbreak is seriously out of date. This delay in results has frustrated those on the ground, with some waiting more than two weeks for test results.
While the UK's chief vet has urged farmers to vaccinate, the vaccine itself is in short supply. A farmer from Devon told broadcasters he vaccinated his flock as soon as he heard about the local cluster, but was warned that it can take three weeks for the jab to become effective. He said he found another case today, after his flock had already been vaccinated, and that for many the new vaccines are not yet available.
There are now three authorised vaccines against the strain circulating, but the chief vet has acknowledged that vets do not stockpile the jabs, and farmers have been told to order early and wait for delivery. He said: "There is still time to vaccinate and protect your animals. That's my message. I know vets don't have stockpiles of the vaccine sitting because it's demand-led. Please order it. There is vaccine in the system. It will come to you and use it."
The consequences of the disease are painful: it causes lameness, lethargy, reduced appetite, and in sheep that show severe clinical signs the mortality rate can be as high as 75%. Even when animals recover, there are wider worries about fertility. With the breeding season starting in a few weeks, a farmer from Dorset said he did not know if his breeding rams were still fertile after the infection. "So potentially the impact on lambing next year is massive. It could be far more than the actual impact that we've seen so far."
The outbreak is closely linked to the heat of the summer. The long, hot season has lengthened the midge season and shortened the time it takes for the virus to replicate inside the insects, making each bite more potent. The same high temperatures that have boosted the disease are also changing conditions for grass and crop farming, with one farmer noting he now feeds more fodder in the summer than in the winter, and has seen almost no grass grow all season. He said the change is making many farmers question whether they should continue growing vegetables at all.
The chief vet said the disease is expected to peak in late September or October, and that vaccination remains the most effective tool. The government's animal health agency is working to update the map of reported cases and has increased the number of testing laboratories from one to three. Farmers have been told to continue to be vigilant, but the message from the front line is that the systems in place are struggling to keep up with the speed of the virus.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC One | Channel 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluetongue cases are concentrated in the southwest of England, with 46 confirmed in Somerset and one each in Dorset and Wiltshire. | · | ||
| Confirmed bluetongue cases were reported, with a total of 630 and regional breakdowns including 46 in Somerset. | · | ||
| A similar outbreak in the Netherlands killed about 4% of the total flock, with some farms seeing mortality rates between 10% and 40%. | · | · | |
| Almost 2,500 bluetongue cases are pending testing, suggesting the true scale is larger than the official count. | · | · | |
| Bluetongue virus has spread northwards due to climate change, bringing midges to the UK. | · | · | |
| Farmers face delays of more than nine days in animal testing due to an overwhelmed laboratory. | · | · | |
| Symptoms of bluetongue in sheep vary, making detection difficult and resembling foot and mouth disease. | · | · | |
| The bluetongue virus can reduce fertility in breeding rams, with potential loss of lambing next year. | · | · | |
| The UK's chief vet encouraged farmers to consider vaccination. | · | · | |
| There is a shortage of vaccine for bluetongue disease. | · | · | |
| Three jabs are authorised for use against the bluetongue strain in the UK. | · | · | |
| Vaccination takes three weeks to become effective. | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The 5 News coverage focused on the experiences of a sheep farmer in Devon, Dominic Elson, giving a personal account of the disease and the practical difficulties of managing it. The report highlighted the uncertainty around the virus, the shortage of vaccines, and the slow testing process. It also relayed the response from Defra that they are monitoring the situation closely.
- “The animal health agency I think has been really struggling with this because of the time lag between the Reports that they get and then the blood test that can be performed by a vet has to collect the blood It has to be then sent to a lab. The lab is overwhelmed.”
- “But we're the lucky ones because of course for the rest of the country as this spreads up towards other areas Which it will do the problem is now the vets are saying that they is a shortage of the vaccine.”
BBC ONE West focused on the official government response, giving the UK's chief vet a platform to encourage farmers to vaccinate before the peak. It presented the latest confirmed case numbers and stated that three jabs are now authorised against the strain. The tone was more straightforward and numbers based, focusing on the public information message.
- “There is still time to vaccinate and protect your animals. That's my message. I know vets don't have stockpiles of the vaccine because it's demand-led. Please order it.”
- “There is vaccine in the system. It will come to you and use it. There is still time to give unvaccinated animals protection.”
Channel 4 News provided the most detailed analysis, looking at the gap between official figures and the true scale of the outbreak, and at the long-term impact on sheep fertility and on the farming industry as a whole. It also gave a broader perspective on how the summer heat is altering farming practices and livelihoods, framing bluetongue within the story of climate change. The tone was investigative and highlighted farmers' frustrations with data and delays.
- “The official government count of bluetongue cases currently stands at 630, but each case isn't an animal, it's a farm and on each farm, a maximum of only three animals have been tested.”
- “It's frustrating to see that the results are coming back so slowly. It means that the map that shows the cases is very much out of date. It's at least two weeks, it's quite possibly now three or four weeks out of date.”
- “In farming these days especially, you take the consolations where you can.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.