EU takes protective measures to contain outbreak in Netherlands

At least one case of the bird flu virus has been confirmed at a farm in northern England, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), it was reported on Monday.

However, authorities said the risk to public health is "very low."

"We have confirmed a case of avian flu on a duck breeding farm in Yorkshire - the public health risk is very low and there is no risk to the food chain," said a Defra spokeswoman.

An estimated 6,000 ducks on the farm will be killed and a 10-km restriction zone has been put around the site near Driffield in Yorkshire.

The government's chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, said officials were looking at any possible links to outbreaks of bird flu in the Netherlands and Germany.

Dutch officials on Monday were checking poultry farms for a highly infectious strain of bird flu following an outbreak in a central village of the virus which could infect humans.

The Dutch government has banned the transport of poultry and eggs throughout the country after confirming the outbreak of bird flu at a chicken farm.

The Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs said the outbreak is deadly to poultry and can also be transmitted to humans. Spokesman Jan van Diepen said the exact strain of bird flu has not yet been established.

The European Commission was scheduled to adopt interim protective measures to contain the outbreak in the Netherlands on Monday, it said. "The Commission is expected to adopt ... a decision with urgent interim protective measures in relation to this outbreak," said Ricardo Cardoso, spokesman for the commission.

All 150,000 chickens at the farm in Hekendorp, 65 kilometers south of Amsterdam, were being slaughtered. It was not clear how the farm became infected.

The strain, H5N8, has never been detected in humans, but an outbreak in South Korea meant millions of farm birds had to be slaughtered to contain the outbreak. Cases have also been reported in China and Japan, although the strain was first reported in Europe, on a German farm, in early November.

As well as halting the movement of poultry, other birds and eggs nationwide for 72 hours, the Dutch government is imposing other restrictions, including banning the transport of byproducts such as poultry manure and hay that have been used on poultry farms.

Largest destination

The European Commission said its urgent interim protective measures will include a ban on selling poultry products from the affected areas to EU and third countries.

Dutch poultry farms sell more than 6 billion eggs abroad every year, though it is not known how many of the 697 farms are exporters. Germany is the largest destination, at 75 percent of all exports, figures published by Rabobank showed. The Netherlands is also a leading poultry exporter.

"It's a highly pathogenic strain for birds," Dutch Ministry spokesman van Diepen said. "For people it's not that dangerous. You'd only get it if you were in very close contact with the birds."

Some 10,000 chickens were destroyed in March after bird flu was found at a farm in the Dutch province of Gelderland.

The transportation ban will remain in force for 30 days for the 16 poultry farms within a 10-km radius of the site of the outbreak. All of the farms will be subject to enhanced security measures for visitors and regularly checked for signs of bird flu.

AP - Reuters - AFP