Bird flu strain which can be passed to humans detected in Holland, Dutch authorities have confirmed the bird flu identified at a poultry farm is the highly contagious H5N8 strain, detected in Europe less than two weeks ago.
A massive cull of 150,000 chickens has been ordered, and transport of all poultry throughout the country has been banned for 30 days.
The virus was first detected at a farm in the village of Henkendorp, 65 kilometres south of Amsterdam on Saturday, and matches the strain found at a farm in north-east Germany on November 4th.
Previous outbreaks of avian flu in Europe and Asia have proven highly contagious
The strain found in the Netherlands has yet to be detected in humans but the variant is lethal to birds and could affect people in close contact.
Agencies/Canadajournal
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