Nearly 200,000 ducks have been slaughtered in the Netherlands in an effort to prevent the further spread of bird flu in northern Europe, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Saturday.
Outbreaks of the highly contagious H5N8 strain of avian flu have been reported to have hit Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Finland in November.
The Dutch authorities have not advised which strain was responsible for prompting the move.
The cull, the first this year at a Dutch commercial farm, took place in six Dutch bird farms near the village of Biddinghuizen, 70kms east of Amsterdam, and resulted in the slaying of some 190,000 ducks.
A ban now prohibits the transport of poultry, eggs and poultry manure with a 10km radius.
The Netherlands is the second largest agricultural exporter in the world. More than 100 million hens, cows, sheep and pigs are bred in high-intensity farms, a situation which leaves the animals more vulnerable to disease.
The N5N8 strain first appeared in South Korea at the beginning of 2014. Outbreaks at poultry farms in Japan, North America and Europe were recorded between autumn that year and spring 2015.
Scientists believe the flu was transported by birds migrating from Asia.
There are no known cases of human infection from the N5N8 strain, but hundreds have died from the N5N1 virus after direct or indirect contact with infected poultry.
