A recent inspection on a farm in Flevoland, the Netherlands, detected the presence of bird flu prompting the culling of 40,000 layer hens, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has confirmed.
It is thought that the chickens were infected with the mild H5 variant, but there’s a risk it could mutate into the highly contagious and deadly variant. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is in charge of culling the birds.
A ban on the transportation of poultry, eggs, poultry manure, and used shavings has been initiated in a broad one kilometer radius, although there are no other poultry farms in the area.