Earlier this month the Netherlands shuttered petting zoos and banned duck hunting as it stepped up measures to stem a bird flu outbreak blamed for killing scores of poultry and more than a thousand wild birds in the country. In the western port of Rotterdam, a park closed its animal section after several aquatic birds were found to have died from the H5N8 virus.
Kā vēsta Nīderlandes mediji, Roterdamas ostā valsts rietumos vīrusa H5N8 klātbūtne tika konstatēta vairākiem beigtiem ūdensputniem, bet Markermēra ezera krastos netālu no Amsterdamas šomēnes atrasti aptuveni 1250 beigti savvaļas putni.