German authorities have confirmed outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N6 bird flu type at a farm on an island off the German North Sea coast, the Schleswig-Holstein state agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. The virus was found on a farm of with 57 chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese on the island of Hallig Suederoog. All the birds on the farm have been culled.
It is said to be the first case on a farm in Germany, the ministry said.
A case of H5N6 bird flu was also reported by a farm in the Netherlands in February and in southern England in January.
The Schleswig-Holstein state agriculture ministry said there is no record of the strain of the disease spreading to humans.
Some past outbreaks of bird flu have required expensive slaughtering campaigns and costly orders to farmers to keep poultry indoors.
