Belgium has ordered that each one poultry be kept indoors from Thursday following the detection of a bird flu outbreak, the federal food safety agency said on Wednesday, as Europe faces a robust resurgence of the disease.
The spread of bird flu raised concerns amongst governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of tons of of thousands and thousands of poultry in recent times, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the chance of a brand new pandemic.
Neighbouring France took an analogous decision to Belgium on Tuesday and the Netherlands last week.
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, was detected on a turkey farm near Diksmuide within the north of Belgium this week, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said earlier on Wednesday.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu killed 319 birds while the remainder of the 67,110-strong flock was slaughtered, the Paris-based WOAH said within the report posted on its website, citing Belgian authorities.
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The WOAH also said on Wednesday that Slovakia had reported an outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm, in an indication that the deadly virus continues to spread rapidly in Europe.
In its latest outbreak, the Netherlands will cull around 161,000 chickens at a poultry farm within the central-eastern region of the country after bird flu was detected there, the federal government said in an announcement on Wednesday.