The number of outbreaks among birds of avian flu in Romania has reached 88, with a further 23 suspected outbreak locations, as of noon Sunday, the Romanian news agency Rompres said.

A month after the strain was said to have been eradicated in the Black Sea state, most of the current cases have been reported in the central region of Transylvania.

The latest outbreaks originated from a poultry farm in the county of Brasov, some 170 km north of Bucharest,

Last Friday, the Agriculture Ministry confirmed in a statement that the bird flu virus had been found "in 75 localities from 13 counties."

"There are also 35 suspect locations. The national institute for animal health is further testing suspect deaths in fowl," the statement said.

Reports here said three districts in the capital Bucharest are among those affected and among the 13 counties, Brasov was at the top with 28 outbreaks.

Over the past 12 days alone, authorities have culled 500,000 birds to prevent the spread of the virus, which a World Health Organisation expert says "has broken out very rapidly."

The Romanians have culled one million fowl and dealt with 60 outbreaks of bird flu since the first case was detected in the Danube delta last year, officials say.

To date the country has not reported any cases of bird flu in people.

Source: Xinhua