Dutch government orders nationwide poultry lockdown amid bird flu outbreaks

Farmers across the Netherlands have been ordered by the Dutch government to keep poultry indoors following three reported bird flu outbreaks in recent days."The risk of further infections is significant. To prevent as much suffering as possible for both animals and business owners, I have decided to implement a nationwide requirement to keep birds indoors or otherwise shielded," Agriculture minister Silvio Erkens said in a statement on Wednesday.The announcement comes just days after nearly 1 million chickens were killed at a US farm in Illinois after a bird flu outbreak became the nation’s largest active outbreak this week.The outbreak affected 934,600 birds at a commercial table egg layer facility in Clinton County, Illinois, the United States Department of Agriculture confirmed. It reportedly occurred at Rose Acre Farms, located outside Germantown, village officials told KSDK.Rose Acre Farms is the second-largest egg producer in the US, according to the company's website. With no treatment available for highly pathogenic avian influenza, better known as bird flu, authorities must kill infected and exposed birds to contain the virus.Nearly 1 million chickens were killed at an Illinois farm earlier this month following a bird flu outbreak (Getty/iStock)Losing nearly a million hens could disrupt egg production and put further pressure on prices as supplies tighten.The scale of the Illinois outbreak far exceeds other active cases nationwide. Minnesota had the next-highest number of birds affected, with 168,880 statewide, according to the USDA.The outbreak is part of a nationwide bird flu epidemic first detected in the US in February 2022. Since then, more than 210 million birds have died or been killed as a result of the outbreak, according to the report.Bird flu detections typically increase during the fall and spring, when migrating wild birds can spread the virus to domestic poultry. The virus can spread through contact with infected birds, contaminated surfaces and materials, making farms vulnerable when the disease reaches their flocks.Replacing nearly a million hens takes time, meaning fewer eggs could reach grocery stores and prices could rise. That’s what happened in 2024, when bird flu killed tens of millions of egg-laying hens, shrinking supplies and sending prices soaring.