France has detected a highly pathogenic bird flu virus on a poultry farm in the north of the country prompting a cull and a quarantine zone.
The authorities, which said they had yet to identify the strain.
The outbreak followed several outbreaks among poultry farms in Europe and Asia in recent weeks in a sign the virus is once again spreading quickly.
France detected the virus in wild birds and backyard flocks so the government ordered all poultry flocks to be kept indoors.
A massive wave of the virus last winter led the authorities to cull more than million ducks in its southwestern duck-breeding region known for production of foie gras pate.
