Dutch poultry sales have been hit by bird flu as sales in its main exporting markets dropped amid fears of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Sales of poultry products have dropped by 70 percent in Italy and by 20 percent in Germany, Dutch news agency ANP reported Monday.

The Netherlands is the second largest poultry producer in the European Union (EU) after France. About two thirds of all chicken production in the Netherlands is intended for export, a spokesperson for the Dutch Product Boards for Livestock, Meat and Eggs (PVE) said on Monday.

Prices for chicks have fallen from 70 euro cents to 53 cents at a time when many producers are already loss-making. "Businesses can't bear this indefinitely," the PVE said.

The organization called for temporary financial support from the EU to help the sector.

To Dutch poultry farmers' consolation, domestic consumers are not showing signs of cutting back on chicken and eggs.

Tests confirmed on Saturday the H5N1 strain of avian flu had hit a farm in eastern France, the first case of the virus in domestic farm birds in the EU.

Japan immediately banned all French poultry imports and threatened similar action against the Netherlands.

The Netherlands and France started vaccination last week of poultry most at risk of coming into contact with the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

The Dutch government has ordered all commercial poultry in the Netherlands be kept indoors and has banned poultry fairs and exhibitions.

Source: Xinhua