Bird flu takes over Barneveld; 28,600 animals culled

Chickens on a breeding farm in the municipality of Barneveld in Gelderland were diagnosed with bird flu, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality announced on Sunday. The poultry probably have a highly pathogenic variant of the H5 virus and approximately 28,600 animals on the farm will be culled to prevent it from spreading.

As a precaution, another poultry farm within a one kilometer radius will also be cleared of animals by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). The authority will also closely monitor 23 other poultry farms within a three kilometer zone over the next two weeks. A transport ban has been placed on birds, eggs, manure and used litter from 235 other poultry farms within 10 kilometers of the infected farm.

The discovery comes just two days after the ministry's last report of bird flu, also found in the Gelderland province on an egg farm in Lunteren. It was the seventh contamination in the region within two weeks. Around 88,000 chickens were culled in an attempt to curb the virus.

Usually, poultry on farms catch bird flu from contact with wild birds in the area, such as waterfowl, according to the ministry. However, the recent infections are more mysterious, as the area in Lunteren had relatively few waterfowl.