10km transport ban around Middelie after bird flu outbreak
A 10 km transport ban on birds, eggs and bird droppings applies around the North Holland village after the second bird flu outbreak since July.
Bird flu has been confirmed at a care farm in Middelie, in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, North Holland. The agriculture ministry (LVVN) has ordered the food safety authority NVWA to cull the roughly 150 chickens on site to stop the virus spreading.
Why it matters
- With immediate effect, no birds, hatching eggs or eggs for sale may leave sites with birds within 10 km of the farm.
- Bird droppings and used bedding may not be moved out of the zone either.
- Animals other than birds, and their products, can still be moved to and from such sites if hygiene rules are followed.
The restriction zone has a 3 km protection zone inside a 10 km surveillance zone. The ministry says there are no other poultry farms within 1, 3 or 10 km of the infected site. The ban is meant to stop the virus reaching other parts of the country.
The NVWA is tracing risky contacts, checking whether products or poultry were moved to or from the farm before the outbreak was reported. If needed, extra measures will follow, such as additional sampling or blocking a farm with a risky contact.
The ministry is weighing whether further measures are needed. It has asked the Deskundigengroep Dierziekten, its expert group on animal diseases, for a new risk assessment. The zone can be viewed on the dierziektenviewer, the disease map of the government agency RVO.
More on climate, nature and farming · health care
Follow the story: NVWA
LVVN (Ministerie van Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur)
The Dutch ministry responsible for agriculture, fisheries, food security and nature. It sets the rules for farming, animal health and nature, and it leads the government response to animal disease outbreaks such as bird flu. When a disease is found on a farm, it is the ministry that orders measures such as culling and the setting up of zones.
NVWA (Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit)
The Dutch government authority for food safety, animal health and the safety of consumer products. In animal disease cases it carries out the practical work on the ground, such as inspections and culling infected poultry, on behalf of the agriculture ministry. It also supervises food producers, shops and other businesses across the Netherlands.
Deskundigengroep Dierziekten
The Dutch expert group that gives scientific advice on animal diseases to the agriculture ministry. When a disease outbreak occurs, the ministry asks this group for a risk assessment to decide whether further measures, such as restrictions in a zone, are needed.