The EU says the risk of infection is not enough for an outdoor ban

Five million free range chickens were moved indoors after news that the disease had spread to Russia led to fears of infection from wild birds.

The Dutch reversed the decision after advice from migration experts and an EU warning that the poultry would not be able to be sold as free range.

The Dutch government was the only one in Europe to impose such a ban.

The European Commission said the risk of infection from wild birds was not sufficient to justify a ban on Europe's outdoor poultry business.

The Dutch government was also warned that their eggs and meat could not be labelled as free range if the ban continued beyond six weeks.

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BBC Rural Affairs correspondent Tom Heap said that, instead, the Dutch agreed to targeted "farm by farm" measures, including temporary roofing for holdings on bird migration routes.

The Netherlands is one of the world's biggest meat exporters. Two years ago it had to cull about a quarter of its poultry after an outbreak of bird flu.

The Dutch decision last month followed reports from the Russian government that a strain of bird flu was moving westward - and was likely to reach Europe.

The strain found in the Altai, Novosibirsk and Omsk regions has been identified as H5N1 - the type that has killed at least 57 people in South-East Asia since 2003.

Indonesia fears

There are fears of a global pandemic stemming from the H5N1 type, if it mutates into a form which could spread easily from human to human.

Indonesia's health minister warned on Wednesday that his country could soon face a bird flu epidemic, after the death of a young girl suspected of having the disease.

The girl showed symptoms associated with bird flu, though final tests have yet to confirm the cause of her death.