BUCHAREST, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Romania detected new cases of suspected bird flu in the Danube delta and one of them occurred close to the border with Ukraine, Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said on Tuesday.

    "A swan tested positive with (bird flu) antibodies close to the border with Ukraine, near the village of C. A. Rosetti. A few swans in Maliuc and a wild duck in Ceamurlia de Jos also tested seropositive," Flutur told reporters.

    The village of C.A. Rosetti, in southeastern Romania, is about 10 km away from the border with Ukraine.

    On Monday, Romania said the bird flu outbreak was limited to Ceamurlia de Jos and Maliuc, both about 40 km to the north. All 21,000 domestic birds in these two villages have been culled.

    The killing came after British tests on Saturday identified the H5N1 strain of the disease in three ducks found dead in Ceamurlia de Jos, the first incidence of H5N1 in mainland Europe.

    Romania has not reported any cases of bird flu in humans.

    The H5N1 strain has caused heavy losses of livestock in southeast Asia since 2003 and killed more than 60 people, mostly poultry farmers infected directly by birds.

    Although its human victims contracted the disease from contact with birds, there are fears a mutant form of the virus start passing between humans.

    Ceamurlia de Jos has been under isolation since last week, and a great number of birds have been culled as precaution.

    Romanian officials have said further drastic measures would be needed to contain the outbreak.

    Earlier last week, Romania's neighbor Turkey has already reported the discovery of the lethal strain of the virus among birds.

    The European Union (EU) has banned weeks ago poultry imports from both Turkey and Romania, and EU veterinary experts are examining precautionary measures to prevent the spread of H5N1, which is highly contagious among birds but hard for human to contract. Enditem