PRAGUE, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Slovakia has detected the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu for the first time in the country, the TASR news agency reported on Friday.

    The virus was discovered in two dead wild birds, a white grebe in the capital city, Bratislava, and in a peregrine falcon found in Gabcikovo at the border with Hungary, Slovak Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon said.

    The Zovolen-based Slovak Veterinary Office has confirmed the H5N1 virus, Simon said, adding that samples have been sent to the European Union's central laboratories in Britain for further analysis.

    Slovakia has created a three km wide "protection zone" and a supplementary seven km "surveillance zone" around the sites where the dead birds were found.

    The country would adopt more strict protection measures if the deadly strain was found in poultry, the news agency reported.

    Slovakia is the eighth country in Europe that has confirmed theH5N1 strain of bird flu, following Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, Greece, Italy, France and Germany. Enditem