Reuters — The spread of bird flu has raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the risk of a new pandemic. New outbreaks were reported in several European countries and Japan this week.
Belgium
Belgium has ordered that all poultry be kept indoors from Thursday, Oct. 23, following the detection of a bird flu outbreak, the federal food safety agency said on Oct. 22, as Europe faces a strong resurgence of the disease. The spread of bird flu raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the risk of a new pandemic.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands will cull around 161,000 chickens at a poultry farm in the central-eastern region of the country after bird flu was detected there, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
A transport ban is in place within a 10 km radius of the affected farm, impacting 26 poultry farms in the area, the government said.
Last week, the Dutch Agriculture Ministry issued a nationwide order to poultry farms to keep their birds inside and it also banned bird shows.
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France
France raised its bird flu alert level to ‘high’ from ‘moderate’ on Oct. 21, requiring farms nationwide to keep poultry indoors as Europe faces a swift seasonal resurgence of the disease.
“Detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza are increasing in Europe among migratory birds, particularly in Spain and Germany, but also in France,” the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
Slovakia
Slovakia reported an outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm in the northern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Wednesday.
The H5N1 strain killed 27 birds on a farm with chickens, geese and ducks near the border with Poland, the Paris-based WOAH said, citing the Slovakian authorities. The rest of the 197-strong flock was slaughtered.
Japan
Japan reported an outbreak of severe bird flu on an egg farm in the northern part of the country, the WOAH said Wednesday.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza killed 46 birds on the farm located in the town of Shiraoi on Hokkaido Island, WOAH said, citing a report from Japanese authorities. The report did not say how many birds were in the flock nor give details about the type of bird flu virus.
