MPs are urging the cabinet to act over the health risks linked to goat farms, following a report showing people living nearby face a higher risk of pneumonia and lung diseases.

Figures from national statistics agency CBS show the number of goats in the Netherlands has increased five-fold since 2000 to almost 600,000. And research by the Dutch health council last December suggested that people living in close proximity to goat farms are more likely to develop lung infections.

In particular, 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.

The cabinet is working on minimum distance rules for new housing developments near goat farms but has yet to decide what that distance should be. The health council has called for a minimum distance of one kilometre for all new construction.

The caretaker cabinet is currently looking into the options and initial results are expected within weeks.

Even after a cabinet decision, it would take at least a year and a half before new rules come into force, officials say. In the meantime, the cabinet has urged local authorities and provinces not to allow expansions or new goat farms in areas where people live.