Minister of Agriculture Femke Wiersma (BBB) is taking measures to prevent Dutch infections with the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMD) among cattle farms. This is evident from one letter which she sent to the House of Representatives on Saturday evening. Wiersma announces a temporary removal and visitor ban, which means that calves are no longer allowed to be transported between companies. Transport is only allowed to slaughterhouses. The agriculture minister calls on companies to take extra hygiene measures.
Germany has been struggling with an outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth virus among water buffalos since last week. On Friday it became clear that calves had been imported from infected areas in Germany to veal farms in the Netherlands. “It is now clear that since December 1 last year, more than 3,600 calves from Brandenburg have come to the Netherlands via collection locations elsewhere in Germany,” Wiersma writes. These animals are kept on more than 125 veal calf farms, spread throughout the Netherlands.
Only necessary visitors
The measure must ensure that the NVWA can visit the 125 companies and test for contamination. Earlier on Saturday, the Calf Sector Trade Organization Foundation also imposed a removal ban in for the veal calf sector.
The visitor ban is also in line with the recommendations made by the Netherlands Agriculture and Horticulture Organization (LTO) on Saturday afternoon. Wiersma and LTO call on farmers to apply strict measures regarding the hygiene of “livestock farmers and those who enter their farms”. Wiersma wants to limit the number of farm visitors for the time being by only allowing “essential visitors, such as a veterinarian,” to calf farms.
It is not yet known how long the measures will apply. Wiersma emphasizes in the letter to Parliament that these are “precautionary measures” and that she maintains close contact with Germany and the European Commission.
Cattle and pigs do not survive infections with the virus, but lambs are at great risk if infected. When animals become infected, they often develop a variety of symptoms – fever, blisters and lameness are common symptoms. The virus is harmless to humans.