Intensive Dutch animal farms seen vulnerable to disease

AMSTERDAM, Nov 23 (Reuters):  Agriculture has helped make the Netherlands rich, but experts warn that the density of farms and the increasing number of animals in one of the most intensive agricultural sectors in the world make it vulnerable to disesase. The discovery last Sunday of a highly infectious strain of bird flu at a Dutch farm forced officials to impose a three-day lockdown on the transport of all poultry and related products.

But the transport freeze, which cost the industry 100 million euros ($120 million), did not stop the discovery of similar or identical strains at two nearby farms, forcing the already expensive halt to be extended to a full week.