See also: 23 May 2003, 16 May 2003, 9 May 2003, 2 May 2003, 25 April 2003, 11 April 2003, 4 April 2003, 28 March 2003, 21 March 2003, 14 March 2003, 7 March 2003, 7 March 2003

Information received on 15 April 2003 from Dr Frederik H. Pluimers, Chief Veterinary Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, The Hague:

End of previous report period: 7 April 2003 (see Disease Information, 16 [15], 89, dated 11 April 2003).

End of this report period: 14 April 2003.

To date, 212 outbreaks have been confirmed and 13.6 million poultry have been culled and destroyed on more than 800 holdings in the established protection, surveillance and buffer zones.

Since from 4 April 2003, suspected cases in poultry holdings have been reported in the province of Limburg, in the south-east part of the Netherlands.

Control measures:

- Setting up of surveillance and buffer zones around the suspect holdings;

- preventive culling and destruction of all poultry within a 3-km radius around the suspect farms.

In accordance with the provisions of the International Animal Health Code:

- strict measures for the eradication of the disease are applied;

- intra-community trade and export to non-European (EU) countries of live poultry and hatching eggs from the whole territory to the Netherlands is prohibited;

- regionalisation for poultry meat and non-heat-treated poultry products is implemented, e.g. these commodities are not allowed for intra-community trade or export to non-EU countries if they originate from farms located in restricted zones established due to suspected or confirmed outbreaks of avian influenza.

Source: OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DES EPIZOOTIES - 18th April 2003