Skip to content

China suspends Irish beef imports two weeks after resuming

Louise CullenAgriculture and environment correspondent, BBC News NI
News imageBBC A line of cows, some are black and white and some are brown. They are eating hay through steel bars.BBC
China has suspended imports of Irish beef due to Bluetongue Virus

China has suspended imports of beef from the Republic of Ireland just two weeks after the market reopened.

The new ban is due to Bluetongue Virus (BTV), cases of which have now been detected in four herds in County Wexford.

Beef exports from the Republic of Ireland to China were previously suspended in 2024 after an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encelopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, was found in a cow.

Under a protocol agreed with China, beef exports have to be suspended when any BSE case is discovered.

Bluetongue poses no risk to human health.

Transmitted by biting midges, due to the cold weather any infection is unlikely to spread widely.

Despite this, the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) said active surveillance and tracing are continuing.

News imageA close up of a black cow. It has yellow tags in its ears.
The disease affects cloven-hoofed animals including cows

It is understood that DAFM informed the Chinese authorities of the outbreak of BTV, under the rules of their export agreement.

In Northern Ireland, a suspected case of the virus is under investigation in Portavogie in County down, within the existing Temporary Control Zone (TCZ) that has been in place since November 2025.

There are additional requirements for moving these high-risk animals within and out of the TCZ.

A limited financial support scheme is in place for affected farmers.

A vaccine was approved in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland last year.

What is Bluetongue virus?

Bluetongue virus (BTV-3) affects cattle, goats, sheep, deer and camelids such as llamas and alpacas.

It can cause ulcers or sores around the animal's mouth and face, difficulties swallowing and breathing, fever and lameness, foetal deformities and stillbirths.

The latest outbreak began in the Netherlands in 2023, where tens of thousands of sheep died, and midges blown over from the continent began infecting livestock in the south-east of England too.

But the impact of BTV-3 seems to vary considerably across different regions, with some animals showing little sign of infection and managing to recover.