The Netherlands killed 29,000 chickens on a farm in the town of Koudum and 23,000 chickens on a farm in Stolwijk this week after bird flu was detected, the government said.
This week’s cases are added to the dozens of cases of bird flu in recent months. For the first, the virus has spread all year round in the Netherlands.
More than 5 million birds have been gassed to death in the country this year after bird flu outbreaks, the Dutch food safety authority said last month. Their bodies were immediately destroyed.
For the first, bird flu virus has spread all year round in the Netherlands. Thijs Kuiken, professor of virology at Erasmus MC and bird flu expert, told Dutch news media NOS that there’s no miracle cure for the virus.
“Only if we completely adjust the bird farming industry system, we can eliminate it (bird flu) in the long run,” he said.
Berlin zoo closed after bird flu case
Berlin’s zoo in Germany closed its doors unexpectedly on Friday after a case of bird flu was discovered in a hammer-headed stork who died, it said in a statement.
The zoo said on Monday that they don’t know when they’ll open again because they’re testing the remaining 1207 birds for bird flu, which takes time.
“So far, there has only been one proven case of avian influenza. No other birds have died, and none have been killed,” the zoo said in a statement. “It is currently being investigated whether the H5N1 virus was brought into the zoo by a wild bird. However, the analysis to make reliable statements on how to proceed takes time.”
“We have reacted immediately with far-reaching quarantine measures. Almost all birds – including our penguins – have now been moved to rear aviaries or stables,” Christian Kern, the zoo director, said.
This is the first confirmed case of bird flu at Zoo Berlin.
