In Wildervank, a village in Groningen near the provincial border with Drenthe, bird flu was diagnosed today at an organic poultry farm.
To prevent the spread of the virus, the 14,740 chickens are culled by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). There is also a second poultry farm in the yard with 3,600 laying hens. Those chickens are also culled, because there is a very real chance that they are also infected.
Last week bird flu was also discovered in Wildervank, which led to a transport ban, cage and screening obligation in the area of Gieten, Gasselternijveen and Annen.
Agriculture Minister Piet Adema announced an obligation to cage and shield poultry and other bird species this afternoon due to the revival of bird flu. The measure applies throughout the Netherlands.
Over the past two months, there have been several outbreaks at both commercial and hobby farms in various regions. There are new reports of dead wild birds every day. Bird flu was diagnosed last week at Nieuw-Weerdinge, where more than 200,000 broilers were culled.