Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) vaccine: information for keepers
Information about the availability of BTV-3 vaccines for animal keepers.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
If your livestock have been vaccinated for BTV-3 you still need to comply with all BTV-3 movement and testing requirements.
Three BTV-3 vaccines have been permitted for use. Two of these have been granted a marketing authorisation by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), and the third is unauthorised. You can only use these vaccines if your use is compliant with a valid licence or declaration.
For more information on the BTV-3 vaccines including permits and licences visit Bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) vaccination.
Where you can use the BTV-3 vaccines
You can use these vaccines in:
- England, but you must comply with the legal conditions of the general licence for England, including reporting vaccine use
- Wales, but you must comply with the legal conditions of the general licence for Wales, including reporting vaccine use
- Scotland, but you must comply with the Bluetongue declaration for Scotland, including reporting vaccinating cattle and sheep and reporting vaccinating other susceptible species
Northern Ireland has not licensed the use of BTV-3 vaccines but will keep this position under review.
Important information for vets
In addition to your responsibility to inform the relevant authorities of any adverse effects that you notice, the UK and Wales Chief Veterinary Officers have published an advisory note for England and an advisory note for Wales. These ask for your cooperation to keep records of the bluetongue vaccine doses that you order, supply and prescribe.
Vets should notify Defra within 7 days of prescribing the vaccine using the prescription of the BTV-3 vaccine reporting form.
Deciding whether to vaccinate
Work with your vet to determine if BTV-3 vaccination is right for your animals.
Reasons you might want to vaccinate include:
- having high-value stock, high production units, rare breeds or smallholdings
- if the impact of reduced productivity, abortions or reduced animal welfare could affect conservation efforts
You can also check the Battle Bluetongue campaign for more information on making vaccination decisions.
Keep a record of your vaccinations
Your vet must prescribe the vaccine, but you, the animal keeper, can administer the vaccine to your animals. You are reminded to use safe practice.
When you use a BTV-3 vaccination you must:
- keep a record of every animal you vaccinate – the information you need to record is on the general licence
- keep these records for at least 5 years
- if you are in England or Wales, provide details including the individual animal IDs and vaccine you use to Defra within 48 hours of vaccinating
- if you are in Scotland, provide details including the individual animal IDs and vaccine you use to Scottish Government – report vaccinating cattle and sheep on ScotEID, and report vaccinating other susceptible species on GOV.UK within 48 hours of vaccination
Moving vaccinated animals
All movement controls and trade restrictions are the same for BTV-3 vaccinated animals as for unvaccinated animals.
You should not test vaccinated animals as part of a pre-movement test in bluetongue zones until at least 7 days after their vaccination. This will prevent interference with BTV-3 monitoring.
There is some risk that individual countries could take a precautionary approach regarding trade in products from vaccinated animals. Defra does not judge this to be a major concern, particularly given current use of these vaccines on the continent. There are no known trading restrictions on products of animal origin from vaccinated animals. If restrictions were applied, we would engage with trade partners to try to mitigate these.
Updates to this page
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Two BTV-3 vaccines have been granted marketing authorisation by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. Unauthorised vaccines can continue to be imported into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) until October 2025. You can continue to use unauthorised vaccines under permit until their expiry date, as long as they were bought on the British market.
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The general licence for bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) now applies to all counties in England.
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First published.