Hundreds of thousands of ducks at farms in the Netherlands have been killed as part of measures to contain a bird flu outbreak. The disease has been blamed for killing more than a thousand wild birds in the country.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/F. Kästle
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Some 190,000 ducks have been killed in the central Netherlands after inspectors confirmed that birds at several farms had died from avian flu, officials and local media said on Sunday, confirming an announcement the day before by the Economy Ministry.
Public newscaster NOS said tests had indicated that the dead ducks had been killed by an H5N8 variant of the disease, "which is highly infectious for poultry," but not "very dangerous to humans."
The H5N8 variant kills some 30 percent of infected birds, making it a scourge for poultry farmers.
The overwhelming majority of the ducks were killed at a farm in Biddinghuizen, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, with another 10,000 birds located within a 1-kilometer radius also put down, the Dutch food and safety watchdog NVWA said.
Authorities have also imposed a ban on poultry and poultry product transport within a 10 kilometer radius of the affected areaImage: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
It said in a statement that three other poultry farms within a 3-kilometer radius were being monitored for the disease.
Widespread outbreak
Earlier this month, Dutch authorities closed down petting zoos and banned duck hunting amid an outbreak that has also affected a number of other European countries, including Germany.
About 1,250 wild birds were found dead on the banks of Lake Markermeer, near Amsterdam, earlier this month, according to local news reports.
A 2003 outbreak of the disease in the Netherlands, a major poultry-producing country, saw health authorities putting down some 30 million birds in a bid to control the disease.
Bird flu in Europe
The H5N8 strain of bird flu is spreading in Europe, and is highly contagious among birds. Thousands of birds have been culled.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Kästle
Testing for H5N8
A laboratory worker in North Rhine-Westphalia tests a goose suspected of having bird flu. The H5N8 strain of the virus is highly contagious among poultry. According to the WHO, transmission to humans cannot be ruled out, "although the likelihood is low, based on the limited information available to date." The current outbreak was first detected in Germany on November 8.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Fassbender
Restricted movement
A case of H5-type bird flu was detected at a poultry farm along this road in Cloppenburg county, Lower Saxony on November 23, leading to the culling of 16,000 turkeys. Authorities imposed a prohibited zone around the farm. The region is one of Europe's largest for poultry production, with millions of animals farmed there.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Strangmann
Rapid spread
The current spread of the H5N8 infection was first discovered on the Russian-Mongolian border in June. Cases of H5N8 have also been reported in several other European countries including Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark. Outbreaks were also reported in Israel and Iran. As of November 24, the virus had been reported in 12 German states.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/TNN
Birds under cover
In several German regions authorities have instructed farmers to keep their birds indoors in an effort to halt the spread. That's easier said than done for some - the breeder of these ostriches in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is hoping for an exemption.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Wüstneck
Risks to other animals
While there's no evidence that mammals are being infected by H5N8, some German authorities have marked off areas where domestic animals are not allowed to roam. That's to prevent the pathogen spreading by infected dung sticking to an animal's fur or paw. Experts also think the disease could be spread among birds by predators ripping open infected wildfowl.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Fassbender
'Dynamic spread'
An official scours the shores of Lake Constance on Germany's southern border for dead birds on November 14. The president of Germany's Friedrich Löffler institute for animal health, Thomas Mettenleiter, said the infection was jumping rapidly from wild to domestic fowl. "We are currently seeing an extremely dynamic process with a strong tendency to spread," he said.
