Bird flu has been diagnosed at a poultry farm in Kiel-Windeweer, just across the border at Zuidlaarderveen. It is probably a highly pathogenic variant, reports the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
To prevent the spread of the virus, the more than 102,000 broilers at the location are killed by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). Last Monday, bird flu was also diagnosed at a poultry farm in Nieuw-Weerdinge. More than 200,000 broilers were slaughtered there. Later that week, the virus also broke out on companies in Wildervank and Zuidwolde (Groningen).
There are no other poultry farms in the 1-kilometre zone around the infected farm in Nieuw-Weerdinge. There is one other poultry farm in the 3-kilometre zone around the infected farm. The NVWA will screen that company for bird flu.
The current bird flu epidemic is the worst ever seen in Europe, the European health service ECDC reported Monday. The highly pathogenic strain of the virus has spread across 37 European countries, from Spitsbergen in Norway to Ukraine.