Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 12/2/14


Officials in the Netherlands announced the discovery of avian influenza at a fourth Dutch poultry farm as the Indian government prepared to cull thousands of birds in three districts in the Kuttanad region of the state of Kerala.

The Dutch Economic Affairs Ministry said it is preparing to kill all 28,000 bids at a poultry farm 12 miles northeast of the Hague where an H5 strain of avian flu has been discovered. The facility is the fourth where some form of H5 bird flu has been uncovered, moving the total number of birds culled in recent weeks in the Netherlands alone closer to 200,000.

Authorities are still determining which strain is involved in the latest outbreak. The bulk of the strains so far are the highly pathogenic H5N8 strain according to local reports.

Meanwhile, Oommen Chandy, chief minister of the Indian state of Kerala, announced that a recent outbreak of H5-strain bird flu in the southwest state has ended and that farmers will be compensated for the loss of a total of 50,000 birds being culled this week.

Indian officials also are monitoring whether transmission of flu between birds and humans has occurred, according to The Deccan Chronicle.

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