AMSTERDAM - Dutch authorities said on Sunday the bird flu identified at a poultry farm in the country was the highly contagious H5N8 strain first detected in Europe less than two weeks ago.The strain, which was found at a farm in northeastern Germany on November 4, hit Asia severely, where it led to massive culling of animals in the countries affected.Though the strain has never been detected in humans, a spokesman for the Dutch government said the variant was lethal to birds and could infect humans who came into very close contact with them.
