Bird flu returns in Friesland and Flevoland, forcing culling of over 135,000 birds
Bird flu has resurfaced in the Netherlands, with outbreaks confirmed at a poultry farm in Marrum, in the province of Friesland, and earlier at a farm in Biddinghuizen, the government reports. In total, more than 135,000 birds have been culled: about 55,000 chickens in Biddinghuizen and more than 80,000 meat chicks in Marrum.
The latest outbreak in Marrum, located in North Friesland, involves a meat chicken farm where authorities confirmed avian influenza. The 80,000 chicks on the property are being destroyed as part of containment measures.
The new case is notable because highly contagious bird flu typically spreads mainly in the autumn and winter months, when large numbers of wild birds are migrating through the region.
On April 21, Dutch authorities lifted the national housing and shielding requirement for poultry in most of the country, concluding that the highest risk period had passed. That measure now remains in force only in the Gelderse Vallei, an area including the municipalities of Barneveld and Lunteren, where poultry farming is heavily concentrated.
Despite that easing of restrictions, two new infections have now been confirmed. Last week, 55,000 chickens were culled at a poultry farm in Biddinghuizen in Flevoland. The most recent case followed in Marrum, according to Omrop Fryslân.
The outbreaks have prompted additional containment measures in Friesland. Within a three-kilometer radius of the infected farm in Marrum, there is one other commercial poultry operation. Within a ten-kilometer zone, there are 11 poultry farms. Authorities have imposed a transport ban in this area covering birds, poultry manure, and eggs.
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, known as NVWA, is conducting tracing investigations into what it describes as “risky contacts,” examining whether poultry or poultry products were transported to or from the Marrum farm in the period before the infection was detected.
