All 40,000 chickens on a poultry farm in Swifterbant in Flevoland province have been killed following a suspected outbreak of bird flu.

The birds may have the relatively harmless H5 version of the disease but have been slaughtered as a precaution, the economic affairs ministry said. The H5 strain is highly contagious and can mutate easily, the ministry statement said.

The movement of poultry and poultry manure to and from the farm has been banned within a one km radius. There are no other poultry farms nearby, the ministry said.