Bird flu has been diagnosed at a small-scale poultry farm in Maasland in South Holland, reports the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) Saturday. To prevent further spread of the disease, the farm’s five hundred chickens must be culled.
There are no other poultry farms in the 10 kilometers around the company. A series of security measures are being taken in this area. For example, there is a ban on transport of poultry, eggs, manure and used bedding.
It is probably a so-called ‘highly pathogenic’ variant of the bird flu, which means that infected animals can become seriously ill or die.
At the end of October, the highly contagious H5 variant of bird flu was found in two swans in Kockengen, Utrecht. Two days later, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality introduced a housing requirement to prevent the spread of the virus.
This national housing obligation is still in force. For companies with laying hens and broilers, for example, a stricter reporting obligation has also applied since this week. Zoos, petting zoos and people who keep birds or chickens as a hobby should better shield their birds and poultry so that they do not come into contact with wild animals that may carry the virus.
This year, companies in Groningen, Utrecht, Gelderland and Friesland were already cleared. So far, this concerns more than half a million animals. Last week, a company in Mijdrecht in Utrecht was cleared because bird flu was diagnosed. This company had three hundred chickens.
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