THE HAGUE, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Bird flu has been detected at a laying hen farm in Dodewaard, in the Gelderland province, prompting the culling of all approximately 161,000 birds at the site, Dutch authorities said on Wednesday.
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is carrying out the cull to prevent further spread of the virus, according to an official news release.
A transport ban has been immediately imposed within a 10-km restriction zone around the affected farm. The ban covers the transport of poultry, hatching and consumption eggs, bird manure, used litter, and other animals or animal products from poultry farms.
The NVWA has also launched a tracing investigation to identify any risky contacts, including the movement of products or poultry to and from the farm before the infection was reported.
This local outbreak follows the national housing order for poultry across the Netherlands, which came into effect on Oct. 16.
That nationwide measure was triggered by a previous outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at a farm in the province of Drenthe earlier this month, which led to the culling of about 71,000 birds. An expert risk assessment concluded that the risk of infection for poultry farms in the Netherlands is now "moderate," raised from the previous "low to moderate" level.
The national order requires all commercially kept birds to be housed indoors, while non-commercial risk birds must be kept shielded from contact with wild birds. ■