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.

"The aim is to investigate how the market responds to the sale of products (from vaccinated poultry) and to gain experience with the implementation of the surveillance program," it said.

The Netherlands opted for a gradual introduction because large-scale vaccination requires adjustments in veterinary infrastructure and can have trade consequences, the government said, without naming them.

Bird flu vaccination programs can sometimes trigger export bans, on concern that vaccinated birds not showing signs of infection could pose risks to healthy birds in the export countries. France's country-wide vaccination program in 2023 of ducks prompted several countries to ban French poultry on such concerns.

Chicks will be vaccinated at Dutch hatcheries before being moved to laying farms, with eggs sold only within the Netherlands. The program will run until early 2027.

"I am pleased that the poultry sector wants to take this step with me. Vaccination offers a huge opportunity to better control bird flu," said Agriculture Minister Femke Wiersma.

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