Bird flu hits Groningen farm, 51,000 hens to be culled

Bird flu has been confirmed at an egg farm in Grootegast, in the municipality of Westerkwartier in Groningen province. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) has decided that the NVWA will cull the roughly 51,000 animals on the site to stop the virus spreading.

Why it matters

• A transport ban applies with immediate effect across the whole 10-km zone. No birds, hatching eggs or eggs for sale may leave sites with birds.
• Removal of bird manure and used litter is also banned.
• Animals other than birds, and their products, may still be moved to and from sites with birds if they meet the strict conditions of the hygiene protocol.

The restriction zone has a 3-km protection zone inside a 10-km surveillance zone. One poultry farm lies within 1 km of the infected site, one within 3 km, and 16 within 10 km. The NVWA is screening the farms in the 1- and 3-km zones.

Some of these farms also lie in the restriction zone around the infection in Lutjegast on 26 October.

The NVWA is also tracing risky contacts. It is checking whether products or poultry were moved to or from the site before the outbreak was reported. Further measures, such as extra sampling or blocking a risky contact farm, may follow, the ministry said. The zone can be viewed on the outbreak map of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).