The highly pathogenic H5 virus was detected through genetic testing of chickens at a farm in Kumamoto prefecture in the south, the ministry said on its Website.

At least two patients have been confirmed with Swine Flu (N1H1) infection while another two patients are admitted to Nishtar Hospital on suspicion of infection, hospital sources said.

The Directorate of Animal Health has urged owners of poultry farms to subject their birds to bird flu tests. The appeal came after bird flu surfaced in two poultry farms in Itahari.

Two more people were confirmed to be infected with H7N9 bird flu in two provinces, health authorities said Monday.

Four Chinese regions reported a total of 10 human cases of H7N9 bird flu on Wednesday.

The new bird flu that’s infected two people in China, killing one, was spawned by the same pathogen that produced two other deadly flu strains, a study found.

A 59-year-old man having close contact with live poultry died on Monday morning of the H7N9 flu virus, the first of its kind in central China's Hunan province, local authority said.

A cull of 20,000 chickens was under way in Hong Kong today after the deadly H7N9 bird flu virus was found in poultry imported from mainland China, days before Lunar New Year.

The government has provided a total of Rs 231.7 million in compensation to poultry farmers hit by bird flu this year.