On 25 August 2026, the Animal and Plant Health Agency said its Weybridge laboratory had begun testing bluetongue samples to help meet the volume required by what it called the unprecedented scale of the outbreak. The work is done with the National Reference Laboratory for bluetongue, The Pirbright Institute, and is intended to speed up results.

Samples should still go to The Pirbright Institute. APHA said submission forms must be fixed securely to the outside of parcels so samples diverted to Weybridge can be booked into its digital handling system without the parcel entering the high containment laboratory. Results will be reported as before: APHA reports will state "BTV" and Pirbright reports "BTV-3"; APHA said a positive result emailed directly can be assumed to be BTV-3. Other serotypes are being tested where necessary, with confirmatory testing before any disease confirmation.

The agency said both laboratories continue testing for other exotic notifiable diseases and keepers should report any suspicion of them to APHA. It also noted longer-term government investment of over £1 billion to transform the Weybridge facilities and build a National Biosecurity Centre.