Dutch let poultry outdoors as bird flu fears ease
AMSTERDAM - The Dutch Agriculture Ministry will lift an order on April 15 to keep commercial poultry indoors, which was introduced to prevent a possible bird flu spread, the ministry said on Friday.
14 April 2007
2 minute read
The measure was put in place in early March to prevent contact between poultry and wild birds in the Netherlands -- Europe's second-biggest poultry producer after France -- during the migration season in the spring.
"Poultry can be allowed outdoors because the monitoring of wild birds in the Netherlands and the European Union showed no traces of the diease," the ministry said in a statement.
Veterinary experts believe that migratory birds represent a serious risk in the spread of the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus.
Source: Reuters Alert Net
