Dutch poultry farmers were told on Friday to keep their birds indoors following the discovery of a highly infectious variant of bird flu on a duck farm in Biddinghuizen in Flevoland.

Zoos and city farms have also been told to make sure their birds do not come into contact with wild birds, which spread the disease via their droppings.

The 16,000 ducks on the effected farm are being destroyed and a ban on the movement of poultry, eggs and manure has been imposed on a 10 kilometre radius around the farm.

The Dutch food and product safety board has also asked water boards nationwide to alert them if they find dead birds on the country’s lakes and waterways.

Factory firms were also required to keep poultry indoors between last November and mid April because of an earlier bird flu outbreak.