Bird flu hits Hierden farm for third time
Bird flu has been confirmed in Hierden for the third time in a week, this time at a duck and laying hen farm.
The details:
- Hierden is in the municipality of Hardewijk, in Gelderland province.
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) ordered the NVWA (Dutch food and consumer product safety authority) to cull about 6,000 ducks and 13,000 laying hens.
- The farm was also culled in June 2022 after an earlier bird flu infection.
- The earlier infections in Hierden were found on 9 and 11 November 2026. Those two farms were already culled.
Transport ban: A restriction zone of 10 kilometres applies. It includes a protection zone with a 3-kilometre radius and a surveillance zone of 10 kilometres.
- No other poultry farms lie in the 3-kilometre zone.
- 14 poultry farms lie in the 10-kilometre zone. Some of them also fall in the restriction zone around the 9 and 11 November cases.
- A transport ban applies immediately across the 10-kilometre zone. Birds, hatching eggs and consumption eggs may not leave sites with birds.
- Removal of bird manure and used litter is also banned.
- Animals other than birds, and their products, may still be moved to and from sites with birds. They must follow the strict conditions of the hygiene protocol.
The ministry said the measures are needed to prevent spread to other parts of the country. The zone can be viewed on the dierziektenviewer (animal disease viewer) of the RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency).
Extra investigation: All three farms had bird flu infections in earlier years. The ministry will add this farm to the investigation already started around the Hierden outbreaks. It will look at possible routes of introduction and spread.
National measures: A national housing order has applied since 28 October 2026. It covers all commercially kept birds. A shielding requirement covers non-commercial risk birds, such as hobby chickens.
- Since 28 October 2026, the visiting ban at commercial bird sites has also been tightened.
- Visits are allowed only if needed for public health, animal health, animal welfare or the health of people in the barn.
What is next: The NVWA is tracing risky contacts, including any movements of products or poultry to and from the site before the report. Extra measures may follow, such as more sampling or blocking a contact farm, and the ministry will announce them through its press release and online channels.