A second Dutch poultry farm has been found to be infected with avian flu, junior economic affairs minister Sharon Dijksma confirmed on Thursday.

The outbreak is at a farm in Ter Aar, some 25 kilometres from Hekendorp where the first case was identified last weekend. All 43,000 chickens on the farm will be destroyed and a nationwide ban on the movement of all eggs, poultry and poultry manure has been introduced for a three-day period.

In addition, farms which have mixed livestock, including poultry, have been stopped from moving their animals and all city farms have been closed for three days, Dijksma said.

Dijksma said the avian flu in Ter Aar is the highly infectious H5 variant but that she will not know until tomorrow at the earliest if it is the same type as found in Hekendorp.

Four other nearby farms are also being investigated for signs of the disease.