DUTCH authorities have banned the transport of poultry throughout the Netherlands after finding a strain of bird flu that can jump the species barrier to humans at a farm in the country.

The government said in a statement: "This highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza is very dangerous for bird life. The disease can be transmitted from animals to humans."

The disease was first identified at a battery poultry farm with 150,000 hens in the village of Hekendorp late on Saturday. Authorities are currently destroying the birds.

The variant, which has not been named, is dangerous for all birds and fatal for chickens.

Earlier outbreaks of bird flu in Europe and Asia have been highly contagious and have infected humans, prompting fears that bird flu outbreaks could spark a major epidemic.

Dutch authorities imposed a 72-hour ban on transporting all poultry products, including birds, eggs, dung and used straw to and from poultry farms.