Dutch health authorities were overseeing the cull of around 44,000 turkeys on a farm in the south of the country on Saturday after the detection of a highly infectious strain of avian influenza, Reuters reported, citing the government as its source.

The farm is in the town of Hedel, 50 km southeast of Utrecht. A transport ban was imposed on ten additional nearby farms, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

More than a dozen cases of the highly lethal form of avian flu have been reported in the Netherlands in the past month, following dozens of cases earlier in the year.

France has also seen a resurgence in cases after experiencing its worst-ever bird flu wave earlier this year.