Swedish authorities says bird flu found at hen farm

STOCKHOLM An outbreak of H5N8 bird flu has been detected at a hen farm near the town of Nykoping in eastern Sweden, the country’s board of agriculture said on Tuesday.

The authorities have taken steps to contain the outbreak of the disease, imposing a three km safety perimeter and banning visits to the farm.

All or parts of the hen population would be destroyed, the agriculture board said in a statement.

Sweden eased restrictions on bird farms earlier this month. Bird flu was detected at a Swedish hen farm in December 2016 and has also been found in several wild birds in the country.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; editing by Niklas Pollard and Jason Neely)