A highly contagious strain of the bird flu has been found in the Netherlands, and efforts are now underway to destroy 150,000 chickens.
The strain, called H5N8, has never been seen in humans, but it can lead to devastating losses in poultry, Reuters reported.
"It's a highly pathogenic strain for birds," Dutch Economics Ministry spokesman Jan van Diepen told Reuters. "For people it's not that dangerous: you'd only get it if you were in very close contact with the birds."
The Netherlands has now imposed a 72-hour ban on the transportation of poultry products across the country, which is the world's top egg exporter and sells more than $6 billion in eggs abroad every year. The 16 farms in the region around where the virus was found could see transportation bans lasting up to a month along with heightened security checks and flu testing.
The same strain was found earlier this month in Germany and has caused massive poultry eliminations in Asia in the past. About 10,000 chickens were euthanized in March after the bird flu was found in poultry at a farm located in the eastern Dutch province of Gelderland; this is the first time the country has seen evidence of the ultra-contagious H5 or H7 strains in the past decade.
The farm where the virus was found, which is located in Hekendorp, is believed to have sold only eggs, which were distributed solely within the country and in Germany.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with that produce," the farm's owner Piet Wiltenburg told Reuters.
Following an H5N8 outbreak in South Korea this year a study in ducks revealed the virus could be spread through contact alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported. This study prompted the CDC to suggest active surveillance to prevent the spread of the virus.
