# Bird flu hits Oosterwolde farm; 60,000 hens to be culled

> Bird flu has been found at a laying-hen farm in Oosterwolde, Gelderland, and a 10-kilometre transport ban now covers the area around it.

News · published 2026-11-15 10:35 · https://nlnow.nl/a/bird-flu-hits-oosterwolde-farm-60-000-hens-to-be-culled/

Bird flu (vogelgriep) has been found at a laying-hen farm in Oosterwolde, in the municipality of Oldebroek in Gelderland. The agriculture ministry has decided that the food safety authority NVWA will cull the roughly 60,000 animals at the site to prevent the virus from spreading.

**Why it matters**

- A transport ban applies immediately across the whole 10-kilometre zone: no birds, hatching eggs or consumption eggs may leave locations with birds.
- Removal of bird manure and used litter from the zone is also banned.
- Animals other than birds, and their products, may still be moved under the strict conditions of the hygiene protocol.

The restriction zone has a protection zone with a 3-kilometre radius and a surveillance zone of 10 kilometres. Two poultry farms lie within 1 km of the infected site, three within 3 km and 13 within 10 km. The ministry says the measures are needed to stop the virus reaching other parts of the country.

The NVWA will screen the farms in the 1- and 3-kilometre zones. Farms within 1 km will then be monitored intensively by telephone for 14 days. The zone can be viewed on the animal disease viewer of the national enterprise agency RVO.

Nationwide rules have applied since 28 October. A housing order (ophokplicht) covers all commercially kept birds, and a shielding duty (afschermplicht) covers non-commercial risk birds, such as hobby chickens. The ban on visiting bird housing at commercial poultry sites has been tightened: visits are allowed only if necessary for public health, animal health, animal welfare or the health of people in the stable.

The NVWA is tracing risky contacts, 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 contact farm, may follow. The ministry says it will report them through updates to its press release and its online channels.

## Background

- **NVWA (Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit)**: The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority is the Dutch government agency that supervises food safety and the quality of consumer products. It checks food businesses, farms and products on the market to protect public health and consumers. In outbreaks of animal diseases such as bird flu, it also carries out enforcement measures for the government, including the culling of infected animals to stop the disease from spreading.

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