Bird flu has been diagnosed at a beef duck farm in Dalfsen, Overijssel.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, it is probably the highly pathogenic variant of the virus and all about 88,000 ducks there are being killed to prevent it from spreading.
Six other poultry farms are located in a zone of three kilometers from the infected farm. They will be examined by the NVWA to see if there is also bird flu there.
There are 26 other poultry farms within a radius of ten kilometers, for which a transport ban applies with immediate effect, RTV Oost reports. This means that no birds, eggs, manure, used litter and other products from poultry farms may be transported.
Hunting rules also apply: it is prohibited in the area, among other things, to hunt ducks or hunt in areas where this could disturb waterfowl.
The highly pathogenic bird flu of the type H5N8 has been in the Netherlands since 2016. In previous years, the virus was out of the country during the spring. Now the virus is still there: it has become endemic. Millions of animals have been culled since the first outbreaks in October last year.
The disease has been diagnosed at at least fifty poultry farms. Since the end of October, a national obligation to keep poultry in cages applies.
Last month, the confinement requirement in the eastern regions, including the area where the company is located, was lifted. In the area of ten kilometers around the infected location, a confinement and screening obligation is again in force, but this does not apply to the entire region.
