The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has hit a turkey farm in southeast France, the first such case reported in the European Union (EU), the French Agriculture Ministry announced Saturday.

"The H5N1 virus is confirmed as the cause of the death of turkey farmed in the (southeast) Ain region," the ministry said in a statement.

The farm has been sealed off with surviving birds slaughtered, it added.

It is the first outbreak of bird flu on a farm in the 25-member EU.

Cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, which has killed at least 92 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003, have been reported in eight EU countries -- Austria, Germany, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia.

All previous cases have been found in wild birds. France had also confirmed two case of H5N1 bird flu, both in wild ducks found in the Ain region.

Source: Xinhua