The Dutch government has suspended the distribution of poultry and eggs after bird flu was found at a farm in the Netherlands.
The three-day suspension was introduced after a strain of the disease was found at a farm in Hekendorp, a village west of Utrecht.
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A statement from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority issued yesterday (16 November) said a “highly pathogenic” variant had been discovered at the farm. The agency said the strain was “very contagious” and can be transmitted to humans. Around 150,000 hens at the Dutch farm are being destroyed.
Bird flu has been detected in three European countries in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, a farm in Germany uncovered cases of the H5N8 strain of bird flu.
This morning, the UK government confirmed a case of bird flu had been found at a duck breeding farm in Nafferton in East Yorkshire.
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By GlobalDataThe exact strain is not yet known but UK government officials described it as of “very low risk to human health” and have ruled out it being HN51, which is deadly to humans.
“Immediate action has been taken to control the outbreak including introducing a 10km restriction zone and a complete cull of all 6,000 birds on the farm to prevent any potential spread of infection,” a statement from the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said.
“The case confirmed on Sunday afternoon has been identified as a H5 avian flu strain and tests are being run to identify the exact strain of the disease. Public Health England have confirmed the risk to public health is extremely low and we have ruled out the H5N1 strain that is infectious for humans. Further advice from the Food Standards Agency is that avian flu does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers.”
Defra added: “Investigations are now ongoing to discover whether the outbreak is linked to cases found in Netherlands and Germany with further test results expected over the coming days.”
EU officials have reportedly said the case in the UK is “most likely” linked to the outbreak in the Netherlands and a recent outbreak in Germany.
