Bird flu discovered at Dutch farm; over 160,000 chickens to be culled

Authorities have discovered an outbreak of what they suspect is the highly-contagious bird flu strain at a farm in the Netherlands and about 168,000 chickens will be culled, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

There are no other poultry farms in the immediate vicinity but those within a radius of 10 kilometers (six miles) have been banned from transporting poultry, eggs and poultry waste to prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus, the ministry said.

Hundreds of thousands of chickens, ducks, turkeys and dozens of wild birds have been culled in the Netherlands since outbreaks of the disease began in 2021.