ROME, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- A further two wild ducks have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus in Italy, after eight swans had been confirmed by Italian authorities last week of carrying the deadly virus.

    A local zoological institute in the Foggia area of southern Italy, where the ducks were discovered dead, has sent the samples to national laboratories in the northern city of Padua to determine if the virus is the highly pathogenic form of H5N1, the ANSA news agency reported on Thursday.

    Health authorities on Saturday confirmed the H5N1 virus had been detected in eight swans found dead in three regions of southern Italy over the past two weeks.

    The local government in the Foggia area has taken anti-bird flu measures to stop the spread of the virus.

    Bird flu has killed at least 88 people in Asia and Turkey since 2003, according to the WHO. Enditem