Across Europe, national animal health agencies have begun to lower the risk level for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and relax some of the control measures applied to poultry producers in the latest winter bird flu season.
Rules on confinement of Dutch free-range poultry relaxed
A week ago, it was announced that English free-range poultry flocks could again be allowed access to outdoor areas, and now the Dutch government has publicized a similar relaxation of the “indoor confinement” rule in the Netherlands.
Based on the reduced risk of infection from wild birds, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Martijn van Dam, has withdrawn almost all national measures against the spread of HPAI, including the housing of free-range flocks.
According to the Dutch ministry, between November 9, 2016, and April 19, 2017, HPAI was detected at eight poultry farms and one bird breeder, and 15 premises were depopulated. More than 727,000 poultry died or were destroyed as a result of the infection, including more than a half million chickens, and a further 335,000 poultry were subject to a preventative cull to stop the further spread of the virus.
New HPAI cases in poultry in Russia, Slovakia
In the past week, Russia’s veterinary authority has reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) one outbreak of HPAI caused by the H5N8 virus type in mid-April, which led to the death or scheduled humane destruction of almost 282,000 laying hens in Rostov oblast.
In the eastern Slovakian city of Kosice, one backyard poultry flock owner lost the entire flock of 15 hens to the disease, according to a new OIE report.
Only Romania has recorded new detections of the H5N8 HPAI virus in wild birds. Two gulls, found dead at different locations in the capital city of Bucharest, have tested positive for the virus.
National animal health agencies in other European countries – including France, Germany and Italy, which have recorded many or recent HPAI outbreaks – have not reported any new cases in poultry or wild birds in the past week.
