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 government said on Saturday, a day after the bloc decided to launch a media campaign to combat fears over the virus' rapid spread.

"The H5N1 virus is confirmed as the cause of the death of turkeys farmed in the (southeast) Ain region," the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement, adding that the farm has been sealed off with surviving birds slaughtered.

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 so far 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 cases of H5N1 bird flu, both in wild ducks found in the Ain region.

In Vienna, EU health ministers said during an emergency meeting that they would launch a public awareness campaign on bird flu, aimed at easing growing fears over health and food safety, as the virus is continuing to spread across Europe.

The ministers agreed to adopt a "coordinated information policy" on risks and what preventative measures farmers and the general public could take to ensure the virus does not spread further, said Austrian Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

The meeting was organized to assess what the EU could do to prevent the further spread of the disease among birds and to keep it from infecting farm poultry.

Rauch-Kallat said EU governments could publish information kits for children at schools and for farmers and those deemed most at risk in the case of a human flu pandemic.

The Austrian government and several other EU nations have already published pamphlets with information for travelers going or coming back from countries affected by bird flu.

EU officials said the campaign would focus on ensuring the clean and safe handling of poultry and poultry meat products.

Meanwhile, EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said Europeans must learn to live with bird flu as the disease has become so widespread in wild birds that it would be around for some time to come.

The bloc had adequate measures to contain the disease when it occurred and would eventually eliminate it, Kyprianou told a news conference during the meeting, adding that it would take time.

"Given that the virus is everywhere now, it's a problem that will stay for some time," he said.

"Both us and the European public have to learn to live with this problem, without any panic. We have the measures, we have the legislation, we have the experience to deal with similar problems. We have done so in the past, we can deal with it now and in the future," he added.

Kyprianou said he would kick off a debate among European health ministers within the next two weeks about whether they want to create an EU-wide stockpile of antiviral drugs for emergencies like a sudden outbreak of bird flu among humans.

Source: Xinhua