Amsterdam-Sana
The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture announced today the execution of about 190,000 chickens after the outbreak of bird flu in two poultry farms near the city of Gouda in the west of the country and in Friesland in the north.
Sputnik news agency quoted the ministry as saying in a statement, "It is suspected that a highly contagious H5 influenza has spread, and the two farms have been disinfected to prevent further spread of the disease," noting that there are no other poultry farms within one kilometer of the outbreak.
A month ago, the ministry imposed an internal preventive containment system for all commercial poultry farms after the discovery of a dead swan carrying a highly contagious bird flu virus.
Bird flu is an infectious bird disease that does not harm humans, but it may be devastating to the agricultural sector in several countries and is caused by migratory waterfowl, especially wild ducks, which constitute a natural reservoir for all influenza viruses.