Some 43,000 laying hens are being culled to prevent any possible spread of infection at the poultry farm in Ter Aar, east of The Hague, the Netherlands, 21 Nov, 2014. (JEROEN JUMELET / AFP)
AMSTERDAM – Around 190,000 chickens on two neighboring farms in the east of the Netherlands will be culled after the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus was detected on one of the farms, Dutch health authorities said on Tuesday night.
It is the second bird flu outbreak reported in the Netherlands this week, after a similar discovery in the northern province of Friesland led to the culling of around 225,000 chickens there.
READ MORE: Japan confirms H5N8 strain in its third bird flu outbreak
Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, is often carried by wild birds in the autumn and winter.
It has been spreading quickly in Europe in recent months, putting the industry on alert after previous outbreaks led to the culling of tens of millions of birds.
