Bird flu claim leads to chicken slaughter

Some 40,000 chickens on a Swifterban farm in Flevoland need to be euthanized, according to European regulations, because an inspection found bird flu present, according to the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

It is likely the chickens are infected with the mild H5 variant, but there's a risk it may mutate into the highly contagious and deadly variant. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) will clear the chickens. Starting Thursday afternoon at 14:00 a ban was initiated in a broad one kilometer radius on transport of poultry, eggs, poultry manure, and used shavings. There are no other poultry farms in the area.