BRUSSELS, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Commission took some precautionary measures on Thursday after it was informed by the Greek government that suspected avian influenza founded in dead wild swans.

    Earlier on Thursday, the National Reference Laboratory in Greece found an avian influenza virus H5 in samples taken from three swans found dead in the Prefectures of Thessaloniki and Pieria.

    Samples are now being dispatched to the Community Reference Laboratory so that further tests can be conducted to establish if this H5N1 avian influenza virus has spread to Eastern Europe in recent months.

    Meanwhile, the Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), is due to adopt on Friday a safeguard measure to ensure increased bio-security on poultry farms in the concerned areas.

    Movements of poultry from the affected area to other holdings or for slaughter will be subjected to rigorous additional controls, said the Commission in a statement.

    "We have to work on the assumption that the avian influenza virus could be spread by wild birds, so we should not be unduly surprised or alarmed if such cases are found in the EU," said EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

    "What is important is that we have the framework in place to take the appropriate measures as soon as possible to contain it and prevent its spread to poultry, and that is what we are doing," he added. Enditem