In Born, municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Limburg province, avian influenza has been detected at an animal park. To prevent the spread of the virus, infected animals at the location are culled by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).
No Transport Ban
The location houses a wide variety of bird species and other animals. Under European regulations, it is possible to deviate from the obligation to cull all animals at an infected location if the animals have high cultural or educational value. Culling all present birds is not proportionate in this case. Therefore, careful consideration is given to which animals are culled and which are not. Birds that are not culled are kept separately and retested at a later time. All present birds must also be shielded from the public for a period of three weeks. No restriction zones are established around the infected location. Therefore, there is no transport ban in the area.
Read the full report on the Rijksoverheid website.
For questions about the culling, journalists can contact the NVWA press team at (088) 22 33 700.
For questions about policy regarding avian influenza, journalists can contact the spokespersons of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature.
