Bird flu found in wild ducks droppings in Netherlands

The Dutch economic affairs ministry has said that bird flu of the H5 type was found in two samples of wild ducks droppings.

The samples collected from Utrecht province was part of the investigation into the possible role of wild birds in the spread of bird flu in the Netherlands, Xinhua reported.

That investigation is still ongoing.

In the previously surveyed 1,500 wild birds, the highly pathogenic H5N8 virus was not found.

The first infection of the recent outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands was discovered Nov 15 at a poultry farm in Hekendorp, also in Utrecht.

On Nov 20, the virus appeared at a poultry farm in the village of Ter Aar, in western Netherlands, followed by two infections at one duck and one chicken farm in Kamperveen, in the province of Overijssel.

All previous bird flu infections involved the H5N8 variant.