Finland's Agriculture and Forestry Ministry ordered on Tuesday poultry to be kept indoors in certain regions in Finland.

The new order was to take effect on Friday and remain in effect until May.

The ministry has said that the regions at risk include Western Finland, as well as a few other districts in other provinces of Finland.

Bird flu has not yet been detected in Finland. A total of 21 ducks and one crow were found dead at Kotka's Sapokka Park in southern Finland. The National Veterinary and Food Research Institute said on Tuesday that the deadly strain of H5N1 bird flu was not present in the dead ducks.

But in Finland's neighboring country, the Swedish Board of Agriculture confirmed on Tuesday that the H5 virus was found in ducks near a nuclear power plant in Oskarshamn in south-eastern Sweden. Further tests are needed to determine whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain. Sweden is the ninth EU country to detect the bird flu virus.

Some fear the virus could reach Finland via migratory birds. Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Juha Korkeaoja has said that it is likely the virus will reach Finland by this spring.

Source: Xinhua