New bird flu outbreak in Poland

Poland has been hit by a fresh outbreak of bird flu with the discovery of the deadly H5N1 virus at two poultry farms, veterinary authorities said on Wednesday.

"Poultry which had the avian flu virus were found dead in two small farms which in total have several dozen birds," near the northern town of Elblag, the country's chief veterinary inspector Ewa Lech told AFP.

"All the birds on these farms will be slaughtered. Protection and monitoring zones have been set up around the farms," she said.

Three cases of H5N1-type bird flu, which can also be fatal to humans, were discovered several days ago at chicken and turkey farms 120 kilometers (72 miles) northwest of Warsaw.

A fourth case was discovered on Monday at a farm close to the site of the initial outbreaks.

On Tuesday, a stork and two buzzards which were being cared for at a bird sanctuary in Poland's northwestern lake region of Mazuria were found to have died from H5N1.

Poland was also hit by the virus last year, but it only affected wild birds, and this year's outbreaks are the first among poultry.