Dead ducks found in two places in Overijssel were diagnosed with bird flu, water board Drenthe Overijssel Delta announced. The dead birds all carried the bird flu variant H5N8, a very contagious strand, AD reports.
Over 60 dead ducks were found in the municipality of Kampen, on Bosjessteeg. And seven were found in the municipality of Zwartewaterland in Machinevaart. Both municipalities announced that no bird flu was found in surrounding poultry farms.
There is no sign of bird flu on a chicken farm in Biddinghuizen, Felvoland, the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority NVWA announced on Monday. Some 21 thousand chickens on the farm were preventatively killed last week after bird flu was found at a nearby meat duck business, the Telegraaf reports.
The NVWA checked a total of nine farms in the area, but found no sign of bird flu. The bird flu found at the duck farm was the infectious variant H5N8.
The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs implemented extra measures to prevent bird flu spreading from wild birds to the poultry sector in the Netherlands. Agricultural and horticultural organization LTO supports the extra measures, but worry that they will be in place for months.
All poultry farmers in the Netherlands were ordered on Wednesday to cage and guard all their birds intended for the production of meat and eggs. This precautionary measure was implemented by State Secretary Martijn van Dam of Economic Affairs after highly pathogenic bird flu H5N8 was found in wild birds in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland, NOS reports.
About 10 dead grebes and tufted ducs were also found in the Netherands, near Monnickendam. They died of bird flu, though further study will reveal whether it was subtype H5N8.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced yesterday that researchers have found bird flu in wild ducks near Kamerik in Woerden. They found the very contagious H5 type in two samples of droppings.
Bird flu was discovered at a poultry farm in Zoeterwoude yesterday. The Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed that this company has about 28 thousand animals.
On Sunday State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Economic Affairs announced other measures to prevent bird flu from spreading.
In Barneveld on Saturday 8 thousand ducks were culled on a farm as a precaution, reports the Ministry of Economic Affairs. An investigation showed that the farm was visited by a truck that also visited the bird flu infected farm in Kamperveen.
A third case of bird flu has been detected on a poultry farm in Kamperveen, Overjissel. The farm has a fixed total of around 10 thousand animals, which will be culled according to European rules.
Another case of avian influenza detected on a poultry farm in Ter Aar, Zuid Holland will lead to another three-day nationwide poultry transportation ban. All of the roughly 43,000 egg-laying hens on the farm will be culled, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement Thursday.
