February 10, 2006

All Dutch poultry to be kept indoors from March

Poultry producers in the Netherlands will have to keep their poultry indoors from March to keep their flocks safe from bird flu, the Dutch farm ministry said on Thursday.

Germany announced a similar measure last week while the EU may be extending the order to areas that have not been at high risk of bird flu.

Authorities in the EU are worried that migrating birds returning for spring will bring the disease with them when they fly over from warmer southern climates in March. Authorities in Russia and Kazakhstan are already preparing for a fresh outbreak.

Wild birds have been blamed for spreading the disease westwards from Asia. H5N1 avian influenza has greatly affected flocks in Asia and Europe, killing or forcing the culling of 200 million birds.

The Netherlands, one of the world's leading poultry exporters, had been hit once by a different strain of bird flu that led to the culling of over a third of all Dutch poultry.