Netherlands and France take extra measures to decrease risk of AI contamination - THE NETHERLANDS - The European Union approves preventive vaccination for free range laying hens and hobby birds in The Netherlands and France, in order to further decrease the risk of commercial poultry being infected with AI through wild birds.

Summary preventive vaccination policy for the Netherlands:

• The Netherlands will remain it's AI free status as reported through the OIE. Only in case there will be outbreaks in the Netherlands with the highly pathogenic AI virus, the Netherlands will loose it's AI free status.
  
  

• Preventive vaccination will only be allowed for "hobby-birds", and "free range" laying hens, on a voluntarily base. For all other commercial poultry, the non-vaccination policy will remain in full force.
  
  

• In case hobby and free-range laying birds are not vaccinated, they have to be kept indoors. So the choice is to keep birds indoors, or to vaccinate.
  
  

• All other (extra) installed biosecurity measures, will remain in full force, despite the vaccination.
  
  

• Main reason to allow preventive vaccination is to further decrease the risk that commercial poultry will be infected through wild-birds getting in contact with commercial poultry.
  
  

• All vaccinated birds/farms will be registered. It will not be allowed to move vaccinated birds to other vaccinated farms, unless approved by the local authorities. It is not allowed to bring vaccinated birds to unvaccinated farms or to a slaughterhouse for immediate slaughter.
  
  

• Meat and products from hobby-birds are not allowed to be commercially marketed anyway.
  
  

• Vaccinated free-range laying hens may not be dispatched outside the country.
  
  

• For vaccination, the "DIVA" (Differentiating between Infected and Vaccinated Animals) strategy will be used. This means that by use of different vaccines, in combination with the obligatory use of "sentinel" unvaccinated birds, in vaccinated flocks, and a strict monitoring and rigorous surveillance & control system, it can be ensured that there will be no undetected outbreak of Avian Influenza in a vaccinated flock.
  
  

• From a veterinary-technical point of view, there is absolutely no reason to ban import of chicks and/or hatching eggs from the Netherlands.
  
  

• Finally, all Hybro flocks are not vaccinated, and are monitored and free of AI.

Further Information

Vaccination France (75kb PDF)
Q & A Vaccination (71kb PDF)

Source: Hybro BV - 15th February 2006