The deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has reached three European countries, with outbreaks detected in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, the European Commission confirmed on Saturday.

The virus was found in wild swans in Sicily, according to tests carried out by the Italian national laboratory for avian influenza in Padua, which is an accredited European Union (EU) laboratory.

Meanwhile, the EU Reference Laboratory in Weybridge of the United Kingdom also identified the virus in dead swans found in northern Greece and Bulgaria.

Italian authorities have taken precautionary measures as set out in the European Commission Decision adopted for Greece.

The measures being applied by Italy are the establishment of a high-risk area (three-kilometer-two mile protection zone) around each of the outbreaks and a surrounding surveillance zone of 10 kilometers, the European Commission said.

Greek health officials also intensified precautions in areas near Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, where three migratory swans tested positive for the H5N1 strain.

Tests carried out in the Weybridge laboratory also confirmed the deadly bird flu virus in wilds swans found in the Bulgarian wetland region of Vidin, close to the Romanian border.

The Bulgarian government has also informed the European Commission of other suspected cases in wetlands close to the Black sea.

The commission is pondering over banning imports of live poultry and birds, wild feathered game meat and unprocessed feathers from the affected areas in Bulgaria. A decision is expected to be endorsed by the commission on Feb. 16.

Analysts warned that with large numbers of migratory birds entering EU countries, it is going to be a difficult battle to prevent the virus spreading to poultry stocks and humans.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 80 people since early 2003, mostly in South-East Asia.

Source: Xinhua