Belgium has ordered that all poultry be kept indoors from Thursday, following the detection of a bird flu outbreak, the federal food safety agency said, as Europe faces a strong resurgence of the disease.
The spread of bird flu raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the risk of a new pandemic.
Neighbouring France took a similar decision to Belgium on Tuesday.
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, was detected on a turkey farm near Diksmuide in the north of Belgium this week, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said earlier on Wednesday.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu killed 319 birds, while the rest of the 67,110-strong flock was slaughtered, the Paris-based WOAH said in the report posted on its website, citing Belgian authorities.