BRUSSELS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Belgium will cull around 55,000 chickens after detecting an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in a western province of the country near its border with France
Belgium to cull 55,000 chickens following bird flu outbreak
Belgium's Response to Bird Flu Outbreak
BRUSSELS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Belgium will cull around 55,000 chickens after detecting an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in a western province of the country near its border with France, the federal food safety agency, AFSCA, said on Friday.
Details of the Culling
A large part of the protection and surveillance zones established in connection with the outbreak overlaps with existing zones created after an outbreak last month and are partly located in France, AFSCA said in a statement.
Impact on Local Agriculture
The European Food Safety Authority said in December that an unprecedented number of bird flu outbreaks among wild birds and their wide geographic spread were driving an early and strong wave of the disease in Europe last year.
European Context of Bird Flu
Israel on Tuesday reported an outbreak of H5N1 on a farm in the north of the country.
Recent Outbreaks in Europe
(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
