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Deadliest bird flu in 20 years tears through Netherlands
Dutch authorities have had to cull about 6 million animals this year as a result of rampant bird flu.
It was the deadliest bird flu outbreak in almost 20 years, the Dutch regulatory authority NVWA announced in Utrecht on Thursday (Oct 20). Mainly poultry has been affected.
In 2003, about 30 million animals were culled on 255 farms.
The largest single outbreak to date was reported on a farm in the south-eastern town of Heythuysen, near the border with Germany, where approximately 300,000 laying hens were infected. They are to be culled in the next few days
The new variant of the virus was first detected a year ago in the Netherlands. The H5N1 variant is reportedly very contagious and has now been found in 96 locations in the country, mainly among poultry farmers, as well as across many other European countries.
Avian influenza or bird flu refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses.
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These viruses naturally spread among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.
Bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with bird flu viruses have occurred.
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