August 11, 2006

Five countries ban Dutch poultry due to mild strain of bird flu

Five countries have banned imports of Dutch poultry and poultry products after the Netherlands found a low-pathogenic H7 bird flu strain at a farm last week, the Dutch agriculture ministry said yesterday (Aug 10).

The countries, which have imposed blanket or partial bans on Dutch poultry imports are Russia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Diplomats at the Dutch embassies in the countries are trying to explain to local authorities that Dutch meat and eggs are safe, the ministry said.

Last week, Dutch authorities culled all the 25,000 chickens at the infected farm in the central region of Gelderse Vallei and quarantined 130 farms.

Earlier, the ministry said restrictions have been eased as no new cases have emerged at the farms.

Products from the Netherlands have not been banned within the EU as the trading bloc does not impose import bans in cases of mild variants of bird flu.

The Dutch poultry industry is Europe's second biggest after France.

Veterinarians at the Dutch Central Institute for Animal Disease Control concluded that the strain found last week was a milder variant of H7N7 than the one that hit in 2003, the ministry said. The outbreak in 2003 led to the culling of a third of it poultry flock. Total costs for the industry reached about EUR 500 million.