The Netherlands lifted its order shielding domestic poultry from contact with wild birds on Monday, as the threat of avian flu infections subsided, the Dutch agriculture ministry said.
"The main reason for lifting the ban is that most migratory birds have passed the Netherlands," said ministry spokesman Hans Blom. "We considered migratory birds as the main risk for infecting poultry."
The Netherlands is a top world poultry exporter with annual sales of 1.5 billion euros (1 billion pounds) and is Europe's second biggest producer after France.
Poultry not vaccinated against bird flu were required to be kept indoors during the migratory season, to shield them from contact with wild birds.
No cases of bird flu have been reported in the Netherlands, despite veterinarians examining the carcasses of more than 10,000 dead wild birds found throughout the country, Blom said.
Many poultry farmers shunned preventive vaccination launched in March for poultry against the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus.
Germany, the biggest importer of Dutch poultry, refuses to buy meat and eggs from vaccinated animals as consumers fear possible health risks.
Belgium, which also had a ban and did not find any incidents of bird flu, also lifted its order on Monday keeping unvaccinated domestic poultry indoors.
In Europe, a number of countries including Britain, Germany and France have all reported bird flu outbreaks.
Restrictions on bird exhibitions and competitions were also eased in the Netherlands.
"The monitoring of wild birds will continue, however," Blom added.
Bird flu has spread rapidly from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa in recent months.
Some 200 million birds have died as a result of the H5N1 virus, either killed by it or culled to prevent its spread.
The virus can also occasionally infect people who come into direct contact with infected birds and has killed at least 113 people since late 2003.
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