News item | 06-07-2023 | 5:50 pm
The Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) has decided to immediately withdraw the obligation to house and protect poultry for almost all of the Netherlands. The penning and screening obligation will remain in force for the time being in the Gelderse Vallei and the Limburgse Peel (regions 7, 10 and 19), due to the poultry density in these regions.
Piet Adema, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality: “The withdrawal of the confinement obligation is good news for the free-range sector. According to experts, there is no longer a great risk of bird flu in the poultry sector. Finally the chickens can go outside again.”
Poultry sector risk low to moderate
The minister has decided this on the basis of a new advice from the animal diseases expert group. This committee meets every month to make a new analysis of the bird flu situation. The risk of bird flu in the poultry sector is now estimated to be low throughout the Netherlands if the confinement obligation remains in place and moderate if it is withdrawn. Previously, the risk was moderate to high.
Alertness remains
The confinement and shielding obligation has been in force since October 5, 2022. Never before has it been necessary to maintain this for so long and never before has the virus circulated so vigorously and extensively in wild bird populations. For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality will continue to monitor the situation closely. There is also regular consultation with various organizations about the situation with wild birds. The risk of avian flu jumping from poultry to humans (zoonosis) is still small in the Netherlands, according to a recent advisory report by the Expert Council on Zoonoses.