PARIS - A highly contagious and deadly form of avian influenza is spreading rapidly in Europe, putting the poultry industry on alert with previous outbreaks in mind that saw tens of millions of birds culled and significant economic losses.
In the Netherlands, Europe's largest exporter of chicken meat and eggs, nearly 500,000 chickens died or were culled due to the virus this autumn, and over 900,000 hens died on one single farm in Poland this week, the countries' ministries said. The main strain found this year in Europe is H5N8, which decimated flocks in 2016/17 when the region recorded its largest outbreak in poultry and wild birds, but there were also reports of H5N5 and H5N1.
"We have worked so hard to improve safety, to train breeders and improve traceability that we hope that if there are cases we will manage to contain them," said Ms Anne Richard, head of France's poultry industry lobby ANVOL.
They should wear masks and stand 2m apart