March 18, 2004

The Netherlands Confirms Two Cases Of Bird Flu
 
The Dutch Agriculture Ministry confirmed cases of low pathogenic H7 bird flu on two farms, ministry spokeswoman Dr. Nynke van der Zee said Wednesday.
 
The first farm, in Eemsmond, was discovered Friday during routine screening, at which time a 3 kilometer surveillance area was established, Van der Zee said. The poultry showed no signs of the disease but there had been a drop in egg production six weeks prior, she said. All 22,000 free-range laying hens on the farm were destroyed as a sanitary precaution. Results of blood tests from birds on two other farms within the surveillance area were negative.
 
Influenza was discovered Monday on a second farm in the village of Lopic roughly 150 km from the first farm. The 800 birds on the farm were destroyed Monday night. Van der Zee said there is a 3km surveillance area around the Lopic farm and two nearby farms have been tested for the disease with negative results.
 
Van der Zee said the discoveries were made during routine testing of 1,000 birds throughout the Netherlands and that all flocks with access to open space are blood sampled every 3 months.
 
"We realize that our decision to kill a flock only on the basis of serology against a low pathogenic AI-virus exceeds what is prescribed under E.U. law," the ministry said in a letter Monday to the Russian Ministry of Food and Agriculture. "However, at this point in time, we felt that we should not take any risk."
 
According to the Dutch Product Board for Livestock, Meat and Eggs, The Netherlands exported 773,386 tons of poultry products in 2002, primarily to Russia, Germany, and the UK. As of Wednesday morning, Japan and Russia had banned Dutch poultry imports.