News item | 28-06-2022 | 11:26
The Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has decided to partially withdraw the obligation to keep poultry in a number of regions where this is considered responsible. Although there have been infections with highly pathogenic bird flu in the Netherlands this month (Hierden, Tzum and Biddinghuizen) and dead, infected wild birds are also found in various regions, the Minister of LNV wants to give space to free-range farms in regions where the chance of a company being infected with bird flu virus is now estimated to be lower.
Minister Henk Staghouwer: The bird flu situation in the Netherlands is serious. In nature, many wild birds suffer from the virus and about 66 Dutch poultry locations have been infected and culled since October 2021. The bird flu outbreaks among wild birds – such as colonies of terns on the Dutch coast – are alarming for the conservation of these species and also for the spread of the virus. It indicates that bird flu has become an indispensable part of the Netherlands for the time being. Nevertheless, in regions where this can be considered responsible, I want to partially withdraw the confinement obligation for commercially kept poultry.
Advice expert group animal diseases
On June 22, the animal diseases expert group re-analyzed the bird flu situation and assessed the risk of contamination of a poultry farm, given the situation. In this they also assessed how great the chance is that a poultry farm in that region or in the Netherlands will be infected after the indoor confinement obligation in the Netherlands or in individual regions has been withdrawn.
The experts have estimated the chance that a poultry farm will be infected if the confinement obligation is lifted for the whole of the Netherlands as moderate to high.
The experts also looked at the risks in different regions in the Netherlands. The expert group now estimates the risk of contamination of a company in regions bordering Germany and Belgium (regions 4, 5, 8, 11, 17, 18, 19 and 20, see map) as ‘moderate’, if the holding duty is revoked. In the previous assessment at the beginning of June, that was ‘medium to high.’ They do indicate that this estimate contains a high degree of high uncertainty. Since May, there have been no reports of dead wild birds with highly pathogenic avian flu and no outbreaks in these regions. The lifting of the confinement obligation in neighboring areas in Germany and Belgium has not led to outbreaks on commercial farms there. With the exception of region 19 in northern Limburg, where the poultry density is very high, the Minister of LNV has decided to withdraw the confinement obligation in those regions, in order to offer the free-range sector in the Netherlands some perspective. In the rest of the Netherlands, the confinement and screening obligation remains in force.