British farmers are experiencing the worst bluetongue season on record, with the number of cases surpassing the past three years combined.
asserted
number → experience → years
The viral disease, which affects sheep and cattle among other animals, can cause fevers, ulcers, a swollen head and lameness.
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which → affect → fevers
The tongue may go blue and even protrude from the mouth.
uncertain
tongue → go → mouth
In the most severe cases, the animal can die.
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animal → die → cases
The virus, which is transmitted via biting midges and originated in Africa, has spread to Europe over the past two decades, a development the World Organisation for Animal Health links to climate breakdown.
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Organisation → transmit → breakdown
The particular strain of bluetongue currently affecting livestock, serotype 3 (BTV-3), was first found in England in 2023.
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strain → affect → 2023
Academics have said the transmission is inextricably linked to the temperature of the surrounding environment, with hotter temperatures, caused by the climate crisis, contributing to a rise in cases being recorded farther north.
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temperatures → say → cases
Bluetongue does not affect people or food safety, but Robyn Munt, the vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union, said farmers were having to keep “constant vigilance” and continually check their livestock for symptoms.
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farmers → affect → symptoms
So far in this year’s bluetongue season, which runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, Defra has recorded 2,201 cases, 1,103 in September.
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Defra → run → September
Despite being just three months old, the 2026-27 season has already seen more cases than the past three seasons combined.
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season → see → seasons
Defra defines a case as a premises where at least one animal with bluetongue is present, so the total number of animals affected is likely to be higher than the number of reported cases.
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number → define → cases
Farmers can vaccinate their livestock against the disease but Munt said it had been “really challenging” for them to get hold of the vaccines, as it was a “demand-led process”.
“During a year where livestock businesses, due to the climate impact of drought, have carried a whole load of cost in their business that they might not have been expecting, dealing with vaccinating animals and then potentially having to treat animals with bluetongue is just more labour pressure and stress on a farm business,” she said.
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she → vaccinate → business
This summer the disease has crossed into Scotland for the first time and has been found as far north as Aberdeenshire.
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disease → cross → Aberdeenshire
With temperatures still consistently high enough in many parts of the UK for the virus to develop inside the midges, Tom Cantillon, a senior analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said this year’s record outbreak was a “harbinger of things to come”.
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outbreak → develop → things
“With climate change increasing the likelihood of milder winters and hotter summers, pests and pathogens that were once unable to survive here can now make their home.
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that → increase → home
This will profoundly impact not only farmers, but the wider public,” he said.
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he → impact → farmers
Earlier this summer mosquitoes capable of transmitting Zika virus and dengue were found breeding in homes in east London, with experts predicting that the rapidly warming climate could lead to greater “incursions of invasive mosquitoes”.
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climate → transmit → mosquitoes
Cantillon said: “Adequate preparation for these pests and pathogens is necessary, including vaccinations for farm animals.
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preparation → say → animals
But, ultimately, we cannot vaccinate against the kinds of climate that encourage these outbreaks.
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that → vaccinate → outbreaks
They will only get more likely until we reduce our emissions to net zero and stop warming altogether.”
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we → get → zero
The Aporia
