Second avian influenza outbreak reported in The Netherlands

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  Andrea Gantz

  Two outbreaks of avian influenza have been confirmed in The Netherlands in less than one week.

  From WATTAgNet:
  A second Dutch farm has been infected with avian influenza, less than one week after avian influenza struck a layer farm in Hekendorp, Utrecht, The Netherlands, according to authorities.
  On November 20, thousands of chickens were culled at a farm in Ter Aar in South Holland, about 15 miles away from the farm where the first avian influenza outbreak occurred.
  Tests are being conducted to determine the serotype of the virus detected at the Ter Aar farm. The previous outbreak of avian influenza was determined to be of the H5N8 serotype. In that outbreak, reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on November 16, about 1,000 layer and breeding hens were found dead. An additional 149,000 susceptible chickens at that farm were destroyed.
  H5N8 avian influenza has also struck two other European farms in November. On November 6, an estimated 1,880 birds died at a fattening turkey holding in Germany. On November 17, the virus was detected at a duck farm in Yorkshire, U.K., where 338 birds died.
  The outbreaks have prompted the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ukraine to impose bans on the import of poultry and poultry products from The Netherlands, Germany and the U.K.
  Authorities from the U.K. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) have stressed that H5N8 avian influenza does not pose a great threat to human health and does not impact the food chain.