Belgium orders all poultry indoors as bird flu outbreaks surge
Countries in Europe tighten biosecurity measures as new outbreaks of avian influenza are confirmed.
BELGIUM – Belgium has directed all poultry farmers to confine their birds indoors after authorities confirmed a new outbreak of bird flu, according to the country’s federal food safety agency.
The move comes as several European nations battle a renewed wave of avian influenza that has been spreading rapidly across the continent in recent weeks.
Governments and the poultry sector are increasingly alarmed as the virus continues to kill or force the culling of millions of birds, disrupting egg and meat supply chains and adding further pressure to food prices.
The outbreak in Belgium was detected on a turkey farm near Diksmuide in the northern part of the country earlier this week, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Wednesday.
According to the WOAH, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain killed 319 turkeys, while the remaining 67,110 birds on the farm were slaughtered to stop the spread of the virus.
Following the confirmation, Belgium joined France and the Netherlands, which imposed similar containment rules earlier this week to curb transmission.
France implemented its indoor housing requirement on Tuesday, while the Netherlands introduced the same measure last week after reporting several cases in different provinces.
The Belgian outbreak comes alongside reports of a new infection in Slovakia, where officials said bird flu had been detected at a poultry farm, signalling the virus’s continued spread across Europe.
In the Netherlands, the government announced that around 161,000 chickens will be culled at a poultry farm in the central-eastern region after another case was confirmed.
The WOAH said the rapid succession of outbreaks across multiple countries suggests that the virus remains highly active in wild bird populations, increasing the risk of farm-to-farm transmission.
Meanwhile, Japan has reported a severe outbreak of bird flu on an egg-producing farm in the northern region of Hokkaido, Reuters reported, citing information from the WOAH.
Authorities said 46 birds died from the infection at the Shiraoi-based farm, though the total number of birds in the flock was not disclosed, and details on the specific strain of the virus were not provided.
The global spread of bird flu has resulted in the deaths or culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting trade, tightening egg and meat supplies, and raising fears about potential risks to human health.
Sign up HERE to receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa and around the world, and follow us on our WhatsApp channel for updates.
