Hungarian authorities have reported an outbreak of bird flu in the south-east of the country, the first instance of the virus in the EU since August, the European Commission said.
"The European Commission has been informed by the Hungarian authorities today of an outbreak of avian influenza in Csongrad County, south-east Hungary," the European Union's executive arm said in a statement.
The virus was detected after an abnormally high mortality rate was reported in a flock of over 3,000 geese and tests carried out by Hungary's national laboratory confirmed the virus to be the highly pathogenic H5 strain.
Samples are to be sent to an EU laboratory in Weybridge, near London to determine if it is the H5N1 virus which is potentially fatal to humans.