New research by the Dutch Health Council on behalf of the government has confirmed that people living in close proximity to goat farms are more likely to develop lung infections.

The research showed people living within a 500 metre radius of a goat farm are 73% more likely to contract pneumonia while people who live at a distance of two kilometres are 19% more likely to develop the disease. Pneumonia has been linked to bacteria present in goat pens.

Cases within a kilometre distance from farms are estimated at an average of 841 a year, resulting in dozens of deaths. Young children, the elderly and people with underlying illnesses are particularly vulnerable, the researchers said.

The bacteria, which have been found both in the pens and in people with pneumonia, are different from the Coxiella burnetii bacteria which cause Q fever, another livestock-related disease.

The findings, which will be published on Tuesday, confirm conclusions from an earlier report by public health watchdog RIVM. However, because of doubts voiced by agriculture minister Femke Wiersma, the report prompted this second investigation, instead of measures to combat the disease.

Measures proposed by the council include improved ventilation systems, no new housing near goat farms, and fewer goats.

On Thursday, the sector is expected to publish its own measures to limit the amount of harmful bacteria found on farms.

There are currently some 636,000 goats in the Netherlands, over half of them in Noord-Brabant and Gelderland. Most of the goats’ milk and cheese is exported abroad.

Farmers’ organisation LTO and sector organisation NGZO have warned again that as long as the cause of the increase in pneumonia cases near goat farms is not clear, “policy makers must be careful what they decide.”

New housing

Sources close to the agriculture ministry have said Wiersma (BBB), who has been bypassing measures she deems detrimental to farmers, is still unconvinced that measures to protect the health of people living near goat farms are necessary, broadcaster NOS reported.

Some nine provinces have already postponed building new housing near the farms, and a majority of MPs have asked Wiersma for a temporary halt on new farms.

The agriculture ministry and the health ministry have said they will study the findings and brief MPs on Tuesday. A debate on the issue has been scheduled for January 14.