A dead chicken found in eastern Romania about two weeks ago has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain bird flu virus, Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said Saturday.

    The chicken was found dead in the small village of Scarlatesti in Braila county, eastern Romania, on Nov. 26. It was sent to a British laboratory for further tests after it was found to have a form of avian flu.

    The chief of Braila county has decided to order a new round of quarantine in the village to prevent new bird flu outbreaks.

    Scarlatesti village was the first place to have detected bird flu in Braila county. And its local residents had slaughtered all their 11,883 poultries by Nov. 27 and have received 2.8 billion leus (93,300 U.S. dollars) in compensation from the government.

    Four other villages or towns in Braila have also reported bird flu cases. They are now waiting for test results from the British laboratory.

    The local governments of Braila and Tulcea counties, both in eastern Romania, have distributed 7.5 billion leus (250,000 dollars) in relief funds for the villagers, whose poultry businesses have been affected by the flu.

    The Romanian government has ordered all poultries to be confined and dead ones to be handed over to the health department. It decided on Thursday to impose stiff fines on villagers who defy the orders.

    Romania is the first European country to have detected the deadly H5N1 virus in poultry. So far it has not reported any human case of bird flu.