Belgian government strengthens avian flu measures with full containment

BRUSSELS, Nov. 15 (Reuters) – The Belgian government has put the country at increased risk of bird flu as the virus spreads across Europe, food safety agency AFSCA said in a statement.

As of Monday, poultry must be kept indoors, after a highly pathogenic variant of bird flu has been identified in a wild goose in Schilde, a town near Antwerp.

The agency said it was the first case in wild birds since March 1, 2021, again indicating active circulation of the virus in wild birds.

“I have to make sure that we prevent the contamination of our poultry by bird flu at all costs,” Agriculture Minister David Clarinval said on Twitter.

“Let’s apply containment to avoid the damage our farmers have suffered in the past. “

The measure concerns both professional and private poultry farmers.

Elsewhere in Europe, Dutch authorities in October ordered commercial farms to keep all flocks indoors after bird flu was reported on one farm. France extended the requirement to keep poultry flocks indoors earlier in November. Read more Germany has also reported several outbreaks of the disease.

Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten

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