Off the wire
• Turkey sees sharp rise in house sales to foreign buyers  • CBA roundup: Liaoning smash Beijing as Guangdong keep winning streak  • Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Jan. 23  • Third panda dies from virus in NW China  • More counterfeit euro banknotes withdrawn in second half of 2014: ECB  • (Sports)Japan's football association says manager not to be sacked  • Chinese, Estonian foreign ministers meet  • UN chief calls for low-carbon pathway investment at Davos  • Results of CBA league  • Standings of CBA league  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Netherlands remains vigilant despite prevention of large bird flu outbreak

Xinhua, January 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Dutch government and poultry industry are relieved that a large outbreak of bird flu seems prevented in the country, but they remain vigilant, experts told Xinhua on Friday.

In early December last year, the last bird flu infection was registered in droppings from wild ducks, but after that no new Dutch infections were reported.

"We have taken significant measures and we are happy a major outbreak failed to become reality," spokesman Simon den Haak of the Ministry of Economic Affairs told Xinhua. "Our measures seemed effective."

Last Wednesday the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs lifted all restrictions on combating avian flu with an exception of the obligation for indoor confinement in the commercial poultry industry. The confinement duty remained in force, because the virus could still be circulating among wild birds.

"We will not cheer too early," Van Haak added. "We do not know exactly what was the cause of the bird flu, but we suspect that it comes from the wild birds. The migration season is not over yet and we must remain vigilant. Therefore, the confinement obligation stays on."

The first infection of the recent outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands was discovered on Nov. 15, 2014 at a farm in Hekendorp, in the province of Utrecht. Five days later, the virus appeared at a poultry farm in the village of Ter Aar, in South Holland, followed by two infections at one duck and one chicken farm in Kamperveen, in the province of Overijssel. On Nov. 30, the last infected poultry farm was reported in Zoeterwoude in the province of South Holland. All bird flu infections' involved the H5N8 variant.

According to numbers released by the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and the Agricultural and Horticultural Organization Netherlands (LTO) the country counts about 1,500 full-time poultry farms and around 2,300 mixed farms. With about 100 million chickens in the industry a new disaster could have happened. The last major outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands was in 2003, around 30.7 million animals were culled in total at that time.

In the poultry sector many farmers feared a similar outbreak as in 2003, but that fear has now disappeared, although thousands of animals were killed. "We are happy history didn't repeat itself," said Eric Hubers, chairman of the poultry department of the LTO, to Xinhua. "The approach was harsh, but adequate since the first day of the first infection. I think partly because of that there have been no further infections. In 2003, there were weeks of uncertainty in which the virus could spread." Endit