The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has discovered a new poultry farm "with clinical signs of infection with avian flu," the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs stated on Friday.
All poultry at the farm will be culled, as will poultry within a radius of 1 km as a precaution.
Earlier on Friday, bird flu was detected in Kamperveen, in the province of Overijssel. All 10,000 chickens in the farm will be culled by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). The 34 poultry-related farms in a 10 km radius around the farm will also be examined for bird flu.
The new reported case concerns the H5 variant avian influenza. The exact type of the virus, whether it is a low pathogenic or highly pathogenic variant, is still under investigation.
On Thursday, bird flu was detected at a poultry farm in Ter Aar in the province of South Holland. The Ministry on Friday said that case was related to the dangerous H5N8 variant. Friday also saw the culling of 43,000 chickens in Ter Aar.
The outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands began last Saturday in the village of Hekendorp, in the province of Utrecht. All 150,000 chickens in Hekendorp have since been culled.
The H5H8 virus is highly contagious among birds and deadly for chickens. This type of bird flu can also spread to humans, but the effects are not serious. However, protective measures are adopted for people who may come into direct and close contact with infected poultry.
On Thursday, Dutch authorities announced a temporary transport ban on poultry farms and slaughter houses. This prohibition applies for 72 hours. In addition, hobby poultry and other bird farmers are required to keep their birds indoors for that period.
For commercial poultry farms, the requirements apply to at least Dec. 18. During this period, a restriction of visitors to poultry and mixed farms is being imposed, as well as a total ban on hunting animals and an exhibition ban for poultry and other birds.
The cause of the recent outbreaks and the spreading of bird flu are still unknown. NVWA and the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO) are investigating the cases.