CRI听力:Emergency Measures in UK and Netherlands to Contain Bird Flu Outbreak

Emergency measures have been put in place in both the Netherlands and the UK for bird flu.

150-thousand birds have been culled at an egg-producing farm in central Netherlands.

The farm has been sealed off for 30 days, and a 10-kilometer quarantine zone has also been established.

The emergence of the bird flu has triggered a three-day ban on the shipment of all poultry products out of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is the world's largest egg exporter and the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products after the United States.

At the same time, similar measures have also been put in-place at a duck farm in northern England.

Health officials say the two cases, along with one that occurred in Germany earlier this month, may be linked.

Authorities do say the particular strain of bird flu poses little danger to humans.

Nigel Gibbens is the UK's Chief Veterinarian.

"Different avian flu strains vary in the possibility of transmitting to people. All of them require close contact between birds and people. This particular strain and what we know so far; Public Health England said the risk is very low. So people shouldn't be concerned about the risk to public health."

The European Commission has also imposed emergency measures to prevent a continent-wide outbreak.

The strain of the bird flu virus is believed to be H5N8, which has never been detected in humans.

However, this strain of the virus has forced the cull of millions of birds here in Asia this year, mostly in South Korea.