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Bird Flu Forces Dutch Church to Hold Drive-In Service

An outbreak of a highly infectious strain of bird flu at a Dutch farm forced an evangelical church to hold a drive-in service Sunday.
Image: Bird Flu Transport Ban Forces Church Service To The Street
Churchgoers sit inside their cars during a drive-in church service at the Mosaic evangelical church in Veenendaal, the Netherlands on November 23, 2014.Jasper Juinen / Getty Images

An outbreak of a highly infectious strain of bird flu at a Dutch farm forced an evangelical church to hold a drive-in service Sunday. Earlier in the week hundreds of hens, chickens, pigeons, rabbits and guinea pigs had taken up residence in the church hall in Veenendaal for the annual exhibition of a local rabbit and poultry breeders' association. After the government imposed a lockdown on the transport of all poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu, the animals could not be moved. The church, which receives more than a thousand visitors each week, asked its followers to come to the parking lot outside the church hall to follow the service via a local radio broadcast.

Image: Bird Flu Transport Ban Forces Church Service To The Street
Birds sit in their cages inside a church hall in the Dutch town of Veenendaal, where they got stuck after taking part in the annual exhibition of the Veenendaalse rabbit and poultry breeders' association.Jasper Juinen / Getty Images

— Getty Images, Reuters