The health authorities of the Netherlands some 300,000 chickens were slaughtered this Thursdays following the largest outbreak of highly contagious bird flu this year and reported that the ongoing epidemic has so far killed almost six million birds.
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) stated that the latest outbreak of the H5 strain of the virus affected a chicken farm in Heythuysen, in the province of Limburg.
“We have immediately prohibited the transport” of all poultry productsthe NVWA said, specifying that the decision included eggs, poultry and manure.
Meanwhile, through a statement, the agency stated that five poultry farms within a five kilometer radius “are being examined and will be monitored to detect bird flu over the next two weeks,” according to the AFP news agency.
The Dutch authorities indicated this Thursday having slaughtered some 5.8 million birds, including chickens, turkeys and waterfowl, in 98 locations across the country since the outbreak of the new bird flu strain was first detected in October last year.
Gisteren bij akker- en tuinbouwbedrijf van de familie Geurts spraken we over gewasbescherming, bemesting, waterkwaliteit en het belang van bodembeheer. Niet alleen over uitdagingen, maar ook over oplossingen. Goed on nuttig gesprek! 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZoLgLY9MzW
— Piet Adema (@ministerlnv) October 18, 2022
For its part, Dutch Agriculture Minister Piet Ademadeclared last week in a letter to Parliament that “this situation is not sustainable”.
“Neither for the animals, nor for the poultry farmers, nor for society, therefore we must intensify our approach to bird flu”he highlighted.
The European country has ordered that all poultry kept indoors from October 5 in an attempt to curb the virus.
