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The information was confirmed by Bruxelles Environnement to Belga. The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) strongly recommends, and as far as possible, the preventive protection of chickens and birds. The four black-headed gulls exhibited nervous symptoms that raised suspicion of bird flu. The National Reference Laboratory for Avian Flu, which is part of Sciensano, confirmed that it was indeed avian flu. The virus is highly contagious to birds and in some cases can be transmitted to mammals, such as a fox feeding on sick or dead birds.
