Bluetongue BTV-8 re-emerges in France and spreads across six Western European countries after a 13-year absence, with BTV-5 also confirmed

Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) re-emerged in France in September 2023 following a 13-year absence and spread to Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in 2024, while BTV-5 appeared simultaneously in Italy and France; by early 2025 three serotypes were circulating in continental Western Europe, prompting emergency trade restrictions on live cattle and sheep movements from France, Germany, and Belgium

Biosecurity·Food· active The Long Game·What Broke ·6 takes ·Mar 1, 2025 ·rbtfl upd Jul 6, 2026

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Summary

Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) re-emerged in France in September 2023 after a 13-year absence, following the major 2006-2012 epizootic that had spread across Western and Central Europe before being controlled through vaccination. The new re-emergence was distinct from the BTV-3 outbreak that struck the Netherlands and Belgium from August 2023 and reached the UK and Ireland in late 2023 and 2024. By 2024, three separate bluetongue serotypes were simultaneously circulating in Western Europe: BTV-3 in the North Sea countries and UK, BTV-8 spreading from France into Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, and BTV-5 confirmed in Italy and France. EFSA identified the multi-serotype situation as unprecedented for the region and complicated by the absence of commercial vaccines covering all three strains simultaneously.

The split

The European Commission and member state veterinary authorities debated the appropriate vaccination strategy, with some governments favouring rapid deployment of existing BTV-8 vaccines (held in strategic reserves since the 2006-2012 epizootic) and others questioning whether vaccination of one strain would confer meaningful protection when two other strains were also circulating. Livestock industry groups in Germany, France, and Belgium called for coordinated EU-level vaccination campaigns and export zone protections. The UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency had to expand its bluetongue surveillance programme to monitor for BTV-8 in addition to BTV-3, given cross-Channel animal movements and shared vector (Culicoides midge) populations.

By the numbers

September 2023: BTV-8 re-emerges in northern France, first detection since 2010
13 years: BTV-8's absence from Western Europe before the 2023 re-emergence
3 serotypes circulating simultaneously in Western Europe: BTV-3, BTV-5, BTV-8
Countries with confirmed BTV-8 by end-2024: France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands
Countries with BTV-5: Italy, France
BTV-3 reach by end-2024: Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Ireland, France, Germany

Why it matters

Bluetongue does not infect humans but kills sheep and weakens cattle, with sheep mortality in vulnerable flocks reaching 70% without vaccination. The Bluetongue virus's return as a multi-serotype event in Western Europe tests a disease management architecture built around a simpler, single-strain control model. Trade restrictions on live animals from affected regions have direct economic consequences for exporters of breeding stock, particularly the Netherlands, France, and Belgium, which are major exporters of high-value dairy and sheep genetics. The recurrence also raises questions about whether climate change is expanding the range and season of the Culicoides midges that transmit the virus.

What to watch

Whether France and Germany achieve sufficient BTV-8 vaccination coverage before the 2025 midge season
EFSA's updated risk assessment for BTV-5 spread into Central and Eastern Europe
UK APHA's 2025 surveillance data for BTV-8 entry via livestock imports or windborne midges
Whether an emergency multivalent vaccine covering BTV-3, BTV-5, and BTV-8 is approved for EU deployment

the record · 1

EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) — EFSA updated its scientific advice on bluetongue, noting that BTV-8 had re-emerged in France in September 2023 after a 13-year absence following the 2006-2012 epizootic that spread across much of Western and Central Europe. The re-emergence was detected in ruminants in northern France and spread into Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. EFSA flagged that the simultaneous circulation of BTV-3 (first detected in the Netherlands in 2023), BTV-8, and BTV-5 represented an unprecedented multi-serotype challenge for European livestock disease management.

Regional takes · 2

▸ UK farming trade press; tracking import restrictions, movement controls, and trade impacts for UK livestock producers

Farmers Weekly (UK) · United Kingdom · en

Farmers Weekly reported that BTV-8's spread from France into Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg prompted the EU to impose emergency movement restrictions on live cattle and sheep from affected zones. The UK, having dealt with BTV-3 from late 2023, faced additional pressure to adapt its bluetongue surveillance and vaccination protocols to cover multiple strains as continental Europe's epizootic expanded.

“BTV-8 spread from France to Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg; EU emergency movement restrictions on live cattle and sheep from affected zones.”

Source ↗

▸ International animal health body; official notification and country-level status tracking for bluetongue outbreaks globally

WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health) · International · en

WOAH's bluetongue disease portal recorded multiple official outbreak notifications from France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, and Spain in 2024, covering BTV-3, BTV-5, and BTV-8. Italy and France reported BTV-5, which had not circulated in Western Europe since the early 2000s. The simultaneous presence of three serotypes significantly complicated the economics of vaccination, as existing commercial vaccines covered only specific strains.

“WOAH recorded BTV-3, BTV-5, and BTV-8 outbreak notifications from seven Western European countries in 2024; existing vaccines cover only specific strains.”