Bird flu hits third farm in a week in Hierden

Bird flu has been found for the third time in a week in Hierden, in the municipality of Harderwijk in Gelderland. This time it is a duck and laying-hen farm. The Agriculture Ministry has ordered the NVWA, the food safety authority, to cull about 6,000 ducks and 13,000 laying hens at the site. The farm was also culled in June 2022 after an earlier infection.

Why it matters

• A transport ban applies immediately across a 10-kilometre zone around the farm.
• No birds, hatching eggs or table eggs may leave sites with birds in the zone.
• Manure from birds and used litter may not be removed.
• Other animals and their products may still be moved under the strict conditions of the hygiene protocol.

The restriction zone has a 3-kilometre protection zone and a 10-kilometre surveillance zone. No other poultry farms lie within 3 kilometres. There are 14 poultry farms within 10 kilometres. The ministry says the measures are needed to stop the virus spreading to other parts of the country.

The earlier outbreaks in Hierden were on 9 and 11 November 2026. One was at a duck breeding farm, where about 9,500 animals were ordered culled. That farm had been culled three times before: twice in 2022 and once in 2025. All the affected farms had bird flu in previous years.

The NVWA is tracing risky contacts to see whether products or poultry were moved to or from the site before the report. The latest farm will be added to the extra investigation into the Hierden outbreaks, which looks at possible routes of introduction and spread.

Since 28 October 2026 a national housing order (ophokplicht) has applied to all commercially kept birds. A shielding duty (afschermplicht) covers non-commercial risk birds, such as hobby chickens. The national ban on visiting commercial bird sites was also tightened that day.