Netherlands detects outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza

Around 23,000 chickens at a farm in Putten, east of Amsterdam, will be culled in the first outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands since December 2023 - to stop the spread of the disease. The announcement comes a day after the UK government confirmed the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu had been found in south-west England. Dutch outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu detected Dozens of other poultry farms within 3km of the infected area will be monitored for 10 days and a wider ban on poultry movements in the area will be imposed, the government said. Although no national measures have been taken due to the outbreak, an animal safety team will carry out a risk assessment. The most recent outbreak of bird flu to hit the top agricultural producing country was detected at a poultry farm in Putten in December last year. Dutch authorities said that around 5.8 million birds had to be culled during the 2021 and 2022 bird flu outbreaks. Bird flu viruses are divided into two ...