Dutch authorities have launched a mass cull of chickens after the discovery of suspected cases of bird flu, a disease that could cause havoc to the country's poultry industry.
The government expects the cull of tens of thousands of chickens to last several days, but experts say the operation is too slow and fear the epidemic could spread quickly.
The first suspected cases were reported late on Friday. The culling began today in one location after the Dutch authorities at the weekend banned the export and transport of all poultry.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is viral disease that is highly contagious to chickens, turkeys, ducks and other birds but not dangerous for humans and other animals.
In Hong Kong a bird flu outbreak last month claimed the life of one man but Dutch virologists say the Hong Kong case is a different, more dangerous strain of the virus than was found in the Netherlands.
In 1997 an outbreak of the virus in Hong Kong claimed six lives and prompted authorities to order the slaughter of Hong Kong's entire poultry population.
The Dutch authorities are beginning culling on affected farms within a one kilometre radius around the suspected cases.
The Dutch poultry sector is one of Europe's largest. In 2001 the Netherlands exported 7.9 billion eggs with a total value of €427 million while the export of poultry meat brought in almost €1 billion.
AFP