‘Low risk’ bird flu identified on Dutch farm
Authorities in the Netherlands have identified an outbreak of avian flu in chickens at a farm in the central town of Barneveld.
“Bird flu has been identified at an egg farm in Barneveld with around 30,000 chickens,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the outbreak is expected to be a low risk strain.
“It is highly likely that it is the mild H7 strain,” the statement read.
A confirmation of the results is expected on Friday.
As a precaution, however, all the 30,000 birds will be culled over fears that the H7 form can mutate into a highly pathogenic strain, the ministry added.
Authorities have imposed a three-week ban on transporting poultry within a one-kilometer (just over half a mile) radius around the farm. Other poultry farms in the vicinity are being tested as well.
Last November and December, tens of thousands of birds were destroyed after authorities discovered an outbreak of the highly infectious H5N8 strain across several Dutch poultry farms.
The Netherlands, a leading poultry and egg exporter, has a high number of farms which house a total of 103 million chickens, 12 million pigs, 4 million cows and millions of more other farm animals, including turkeys, ducks, rabbits and goats.
Health officials fear that the close proximity of farms and the high numbers of animals in the farms make them more vulnerable to outbreaks.
The recent outbreaks have reached Britain and Germany. The virus has been also found in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Canada and the United States.
Experts suspect that the H5N8 strain entered Europe via birds migrating from Asia.
Some strains of avian flu are deadly to birds, but also pose a serious threat to humans, who can fall sick after handling infected poultry.
GMA/MKA/SS
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