Dutch authorities have discovered a suspected case of avian influenza at a farm outside the original contaminated area.
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The outbreak of avian flu had been limited to a small area in the central Gelderland province, but the new case was discovered in the southern province of Zeeland, a spokeswoman for the Agriculture Ministry told Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has announced that a Dutch agricultural worker, who had been slaughtering poultry from farms infected with avian flu, has caught a minor form of the disease.
The worker came down with an eye infection that is easily treated, unlike a case in Hong Kong that killed a man last month, a spokesman told Reuters.
“The ministry is watching very closely so that no one is developing the Hong Kong variety,” he added.
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By GlobalDataCatching avian influenza can be dangerous for humans if they are already infected with human influenza, the spokesman said.
On Tuesday, human influenza vaccines will be made available to all people who may have come in contact with the avian virus, he added. Although highly infectious among birds, the disease is rarely transferred to humans.
Last month a 33-year-old man in Hong Kong died of pneumonia after contracting a strain of the avian virus. His son recovered after also contracting the disease. The cases were the first incidents of avian influenza being caught by humans since an outbreak in the territory killed six people in 1997, reported Reuters.
