Staatsbosbeheer asks hikers in the Oostvaardersplassen to stay away from birds and to keep dogs on a leash. The ranger found dead waterfowl in the recreation area between Almere and Lelystad, the cause of death of which is unknown. In Lelystad it is now being investigated whether the birds had bird flu. The geese in the area also behave strangely: the herd animals are found alone and their eyes are weakened.
Whatever is wrong with the birds in the Oostvaardersplassen, the fact remains that most of the places where bird flu is found are wild birds. This is evident from data kept by Wageningen University. Measures such as a confinement obligation will therefore no longer help.
The variant that is now circulating among birds is more contagious than other variants of bird flu. As a result, Europe is experiencing the largest outbreak ever recorded on the continent. In the Netherlands, the outbreak of this variant started at the end of October at a poultry farm in Zeewolde. Almost immediately, Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture) instituted a confinement obligation: poultry farmers and hobby keepers must keep their birds indoors.
Million animals culled
Yet bird flu also appears in closed pens, to the astonishment of livestock farmers. Once the bird flu has entered the chicken coop, the coop is emptied. As a result, more than 400,000 animals have been killed this week, LTO Nederland announced on Thursday. This puts the counter at almost one million since the end of October.
At least ten people have already died in China who had skipped a similar variant of bird flu. The British RIVM announced yesterday that someone in the southwest of England had contracted the new variant of the bird flu virus, as far as is known the first human patient in Europe. It is not yet clear how serious this bird flu virus is for humans.
LTO Nederland advocates the vaccination of poultry. The big disadvantage of this is that in many countries it is illegal to buy products from vaccinated animals. A gift from heaven would be freezing cold: bird flu viruses usually do not tolerate that well.