Netherlands starts bird flu vaccination program at hen farm

10/3/2025 19:32

The Netherlands, one of the world's largest egg exporters, has launched a pilot program on a laying-hen farm to vaccinate poultry against bird flu with the

aim of achieving large-scale vaccination, the government said on Monday.



The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry globally in recent years, most of them laying hens, which sent egg prices rocketing. It can also spread to humans and other animals, raising fears of a new pandemic.



The Dutch pilot follows field tests that demonstrated the effectiveness of two vaccines last year. It will be conducted at one farm initially, and then potentially expanded to others, the government said in a statement.