A Belgian chicken farm reported Europe's latest outbreak of highly infectious H5N5 bird flu on Friday, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said in an alert. Thousands of birds have been culled as a precaution.
Some 600 birds died from the virus, while a further 151,000 were culled after the outbreak, which struck in West Flanders near the town of Menen, on the France-Belgium border.
Bird flu began spreading at the farm on November 18, before the outbreak was confirmed on Wednesday and reported on Friday, animal health officials said.