Dutch authorities are racing to contain a bird flu outbreak at two poultry farms, with 200,000 chickens being culled in the eastern town of Puiflijk and a nearby location. The highly pathogenic H5N8 strain has also been detected in northern Germany, affecting a small farm in Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Holstein.
In the UK, a poultry farm in Frodsham, north-west England, reported cases on Monday, leading to a cull of 13,000 birds. Another farm in Kent, south-east England, is carrying out a smaller cull after the H5N2 strain was detected this week.
H5N8 poses a very low risk to humans, but the economic impact can be severe. Health experts advise avoiding contact with sick or dead birds, and confirm that chicken and eggs are safe to eat if thoroughly cooked, as heat kills the virus.
Containment zones have been established around the affected Dutch farms, located near Nijmegen, 30km from the German border, and around the German farm in Oland, Nordfriesland. Farmers are urged to keep poultry indoors. Over 1,000 dead wild birds, mainly geese and ducks, have been found on the Nordfriesland coast, likely infected with bird flu.
The Netherlands is Europe's largest exporter of chicken meat and eggs, with 2,000 farms employing 10,000 people. In 2003, a major outbreak led to the culling of over 30 million birds. Germany's worst outbreak occurred in 2016-2017, with more than 900,000 birds culled nationally.
