News item | 15-07-2022 | 17:21
The Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has decided to partially repeal the obligation to keep poultry in a number of regions where this is considered responsible. This concerns the regions of Maas and Waal, West Brabant and Central Limburg (regions 13, 16 and 19). The duty to stay there will expire from today.
The Minister has decided this on the basis of advice from an animal diseases expert group that has analyzed the bird flu situation and assessed the risk of contamination of a poultry farm, given the situation. They also assessed the chance that a poultry farm in a specific region or in the Netherlands will be infected if the confinement obligation is withdrawn.
Never before has it been necessary to maintain the confinement obligation for so long and never before has the virus circulated so vigorously and extensively in wild bird populations. The impact of bird flu and its continuous threat is for holders of companies with an outdoor range. Unfortunately, there is a reasonable chance that the number of infections in wild birds in the other regions will not decrease for the time being, and that the risk of contamination of poultry farms will therefore remain high.
Minister Henk Staghouwer: “I will regularly ask the experts to assess the situation and withdraw the confinement obligation as soon as it is justified. However, we have to take into account the scenario that the confinement obligation for certain regions will remain in place for the rest of the year and possibly longer”.