Germany has confirmed 110 cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain among wild birds, agricultural authorities said on Thursday.

All the dead wild birds with the H5N1 virus were found in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Six new cases of H5N1 were confirmed among dead wild birds found Thursday on Ruegen island.

A wild duck elsewhere in the state also tested positive for the disease.

A dead duck on a poultry farm on Ruegen was also found to have bird flu, but laboratory tests showed the bird did not have the lethal H5N1 strain.

All 106 ducks and chickens on the poultry farm were slaughtered Wednesday after routine tests raising suspicions about an infection on the farm.

In its most highly pathogenic form, H5N1 can kill humans. While no EU farm birds have yet tested positive for the disease, experts have warned that it is only a matter of time for the virus to spread from wild birds to domestic poultry.

Germany's health authorities held a special meeting on Thursday, deciding to raise the stock of anti-bird flu drugs for both humans and poultry.

Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer said tests were carried out by related institutions to see to what extent animals can resist the deadly H5N1 strain.

"We will have to live with the virus for the foreseeable future," the minister said.

Germany's bird flu outbreak began on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen as migrating birds started returning to the region, and officials confirmed on Monday that it has spread to the mainland.

Source: Xinhua