Field Trial for Bird Flu Vaccines: Potential Solution to Large-Scale Culls of Poultry Farms

The trial is taking place on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. According to outgoing Minister Piet Adema, this is crucial to put an end to the large-scale culls of poultry farms that have been affected by the bird flu virus.

He says: ”Those culls are terrible to experience. So if the test is successful and we can scale up, it will save a lot of animal suffering and also suffering for the keepers. Because it is also terrible for the holders.”

Biggest infection

The Netherlands is struggling with the largest bird flu infection since 2003. While there used to be outbreaks in the winter season, the virus has been present all year round among wild birds since 2022. Many birds died as a result, and one poultry farm after another had to be cleared due to contamination with the virus. There were also many preventive culls of companies in the area. This concerns millions of animals in total.

Fighting the disease is not only important to prevent animal suffering. Bird flu is a zoonosis and can now spread to humans through intensive contact with infected animals. There is a fear that the virus will mutate in such a way that it can spread more easily. The risk is currently estimated as low, but that may change. This is why the House of Representatives has insisted on switching to poultry vaccination as quickly as possible.

You can see in the video below that the dangers have never been as great as they are now:

In practice

In March it was announced that two vaccines worked well against bird flu in laboratory conditions. Research by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research showed that they not only prevented chickens from becoming ill, but also that they prevented the virus from spreading.

It is these two vaccines that are now being tested in practice. The field trial at two companies will last until the third quarter of 2025. A total of 1,800 chicks will be vaccinated. The chicks are divided into different test groups. Tests are being conducted in the laboratory with a number of the animals to investigate the effectiveness of the vaccination.

The animals are intensively monitored and checked to determine whether they are really protected against the virus. In addition to the Animal Health Service, Wageningen University and the faculty of veterinary medicine at Utrecht University are also involved.

Stable climate

Under practical conditions, the effectiveness of a vaccine may be different than under controlled conditions in a laboratory. For example, in a poultry house the housing and climate are different, the animals are also vaccinated against other diseases and other germs are present that could influence the effectiveness of a vaccine. It is important that the vaccines not only provide protection against symptoms of illness, but above all prevent the spread of the bird flu virus.

Although the trial will last until 2025, Minister Adema expects the first results in the first and second quarters of next year. If they are good, he wants to scale up to a pilot in which more poultry companies can participate. Before that happens, the vaccines must be European registered.

Barriers to trade

The intention is that the pilot will pay a lot of attention to the effects of the vaccination on the trade in poultry products. Poultry farmers are currently still skeptical about vaccination, because the chickens and eggs can no longer simply be traded.

Minister Adema wants to remove these obstacles in a European context. The intention is also to set up a surveillance program to quickly detect possible infections in companies. Because infections remain possible. Hygiene on poultry farms and other preventive measures therefore remain important, the minister emphasizes.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality does not yet dare to say when vaccination will become possible for all poultry farms. It will depend on the success of the trial started today and the subsequent pilot.

2023-09-18 14:30:17
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