Armin Elbers is an epidemiologist and senior researcher at Wageningen Bioveterinary Research. Elbers is analysing the spread of notifiable animal diseases such as swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza, as well as the development of early warning clinical systems to detect these diseases sooner after they have been introduced in the Netherlands. Elbers also conducts field research on midges, horseflies that transmit the bluetongue virus and the Schmallenberg virus to cattle and sheep as well as the African horse sickness virus to equine animals.
Each spring and autumn, there are mild outbreaks of bird flu (avian influenza, AI) on poultry farms in the Netherlands. This is especially true of free-range farms, where animals have access to outdoor areas. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is studying how to prevent chickens and other poultry from becoming…