Dutch tests find no new signs of bird flu - NETHERLANDS - Preliminary blood tests indicate chickens have not come into contact with Bird Flu.

The Dutch agriculture ministry said on Monday that preliminary blood tests for avian flu at three Dutch poultry farms found that chickens had not developed antibodies to the highly contagious disease.

The ministry on Saturday decided to cull the poultry stock at a Dutch farm in the northeast of the country as a precautionary step after blood samples taken in routine tests indicated chickens had developed antibodies.

The presence of such antibodies may indicate that the birds had come in contact with the virus.

The ministsry is carrying out further tests at the three other farms in the same area.

Source: Reuters - 15th March 2004