190,000 ducks culled after bird flu found on Dutch farm

A total of 190,000 ducks were killed after avian influenza was detected on a duck farm in central Netherlands, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs declared on Saturday.

The type of bird flu found on the farm in Biddinghuizen, in the Dutch province of Flevoland, is still unknown and is currently being investigated.

To prevent the bird flu from spreading, poultry on four other farms which belonged to the same company that operated the Biddinghuizen farm were also culled.

In addition, 10,000 ducks raised on another farm which is in a radius of one kilometer from the infected farm were killed.

There are three other poultry farms within three kilometers from the farm in Biddinghuizen. Investigations are underway in those farms to detect bird flu.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has announced an immediate transport ban on poultry, eggs, poultry manure and used bedding in farms located in a radius of 10 kilometers around the one affected by the bird flu.

Since November 9, preventive measures were taken in the Netherlands after outbreaks of H5N8 avian influenza in wild birds in a number of European countries. On November 10, the highly pathogenic avian influenza was identified for the first time this year in dead, wild waterfowl in the Netherlands. The infection in Biddinghuizen is the first at a commercial farm this year. Enditem