Battle Bluetongue campaign

Battle Bluetongue campaign launched for 2025

Farmers in England and Wales are being urged to consult their vet about vaccinating their herd or flock against Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) as part of a ‘battle bluetongue’ campaign which is running across industry.

As there is no treatment for the disease, BTV-3 continues to pose a significant threat to both cattle, sheep, goats and camelids, with potential impacts on animal health, productivity, and trade. Therefore, slowing the disease spread through vaccination and restricted movements in affected areas remains the best defence.

The proactive campaign #BattleBluetongue has been developed by Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and Ruminant Health & Welfare (RH&W) in collaboration with key veterinary and industry associations.

The campaign is directing farmers to have proactive discussions with their vets to assess their risk to BTV-3.

By working through the new resource produced for the campaign with their vet – a vaccine decision maker tool – farmers can understand their BTV-3 risk to then defend their stock by vaccinating the right animals.  

Farmers are encouraged to develop farm specific battle plans with the aim to help increase the level of vaccination for high-risk stock to provide some level of defence against the disease on-farms.

Farmers are being encouraged to:

• ASSESS YOUR RISK 

• PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS

• DEFEND YOUR STOCK

  At present vaccination is only licensed for use in England – and in Wales from 1 March – however RH&W encourage vets and farmers across the UK to make sure they are aware of how BTV-3 is transmitted, take caution to protect their herds or flocks by following evidence based on-farm midge control tactics. 

Learn more about BTV-3 here.