Botulism is a serious infectious disease caused by toxins produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. Botulism is very rare in the Netherlands.

A tick bite can make you ill. Check yourself and others for ticks after visiting green areas. If you have been bitten by a tick, it is important to remove it quickly. These pages offer information on ticks, tick bites, and the diseases that ticks can spread.

Mosquitoes have an annoying habit of buzzing around your head, or alternatively, of biting you, which generally results in unpleasant bites. Read on to find out what you can do to stop mosquitoes from laying eggs, thus minimising the number of mosquitoes in and around your home. 

Diseases that are naturally transmitted from animals to humans are called zoonoses. Outbreaks or events involving new or re-emerging zoonoses also occur in the Netherlands. New zoonotic diseases will continue to emerge. An appropriate response to emerging zoonoses requires close collaboration between medical and veterinary professionals. In this topic, we elaborate on the One Health approach in the Netherlands and our national and international activities on signalling, assessing and controlling zoonoses.

Zoonoses are infections  that are naturally transmissible directly or indirectly between animals and humans. Domestic animals, farm animals, wild animals or rodents such as mice and rats, who may or may not be affected themselves, carry zoonotic diseases. 

Infectious diseases are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungus. These microorganisms can infect humans and animals and, as a result, pose a threat to public health. The Centre for Infectious Disease Control of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) coordinates the response to infectious diseases within the Netherlands. This page explains how infectious disease control is organised in the Netherlands.