The avian flu virus of the deadly H5N1 strain has spread to the Tula region in European Russia, some 200 km south of Moscow, preliminary data of Russia's Agriculture Ministry shows.

"Preliminary laboratory data has shown ... presence of the H5N1 virus in dead birds discovered in a village in the Tula region. But it is only preliminary data," the ministry's spokeswoman said.

According to local media reports hundreds of birds have died suddenly in the region south of Moscow.

Should fears of a deadly bird flu outbreak are confirmed, this would be the first time the lethal strain has appeared in European Russia, west of the Ural Mountains.

The virus has so far been detected in Siberia, eastern Russia, and the Urals.

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