Birds in zoos should be vaccinated against bird flu as soon as possible, according to the Dutch Association of Zoos (NVD). They already asked the Minister of Agriculture for it in March, but that has still not been answered.
A zoo in Berlin was recently closed due to bird flu. Chairman Wineke Schoo is afraid that this could also happen in the 13 zoos that fall under the NVD.
Duty of care
“We already sent a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture in March asking whether we can vaccinate the animals in the zoos affiliated with us,” says Schoo. “We only heard that there was a delay.”
But Schoo had hoped that she could have vaccinated the birds this fall, because it is the most intense period when it comes to bird flu. “Of course we have a duty of care for our birds. We are afraid for the health of our animals.”
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‘Can be done in 1 day’
This duty of care is one of the arguments put forward by the NVD in the application for vaccination. They have to re-apply every year.
Two other arguments are that birds become less ill from a vaccination and that vaccination is already being done in other European zoos. “It’s only about 3,000 birds,” says Schoo. “That was done in 1 day.”
Permission from the Netherlands
Vaccinating birds in zoos has been allowed under European legislation since 2003. “The Netherlands must give permission if we want to do that,” Schoo explains. “It is already happening in other countries such as France and Denmark. So it is allowed, and there are also super good results.”
Schoo says he understands that the Ministry of Agriculture is very busy because there have been many outbreaks. “It is a difficult process if you give zoos an exceptional position. Are we going to vaccinate all chickens and hobby animals? But as a zoo I have to say that I just really want it for our animals.”
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Not part of the food chain
But the argument that is often used for poultry farms, namely that eggs and meat from chickens that have been vaccinated against bird flu cannot be traded, does not apply to zoos. “Our birds don’t enter the food chain,” Schoo explains.
“We just really want some perspective, because right now we don’t know anything,” she says. “If this is going to take months, I don’t know. We can’t vaccinate without government support.” The NVD would not want it on its conscience that it jumps from animal to human.
Wait for research
A spokesman for the ministry says the request has been considered. “For now, we believe it is better to wait for the research to be done on the safety of the candidate vaccines with which we also want to prevent further, unwanted spread of the virus.”
“Partly based on the results of that vaccination trial at WageningBiovetinary Research (WBVR), we will make a decision at the request of the zoos,” says a spokesperson. Those results are not expected until the end of December.
View the report here.