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A mute swan swims on the Ohrid lake near the border with Macedonia in the city of Pogradec, about 160 km (100 miles) from capital Tirana, Albania, March 5, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters)

TIRANA, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Albania said on Wednesday that the deadly H5N1 bird flu had been detected in a chicken in the country's south, confirming the Balkan state's first case of the strain of the virus.

    The chicken was found in the village of Cuke in Sarande district, in southern Albania, and tests at the Central Reference Laboratory in London, Britain, confirmed H5N1, said the Albanian Agriculture Ministry.

    Health officials have taken measures to disinfect the area, around which people living there were put under quarantine with the set-up of a three-kilometer (two-mile) quarantine zone in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus.

    Further tests on some poultry birds near Cuke will be carried out, said the ministry, urging the public to remain calm.

    The highly virulent strain of H5N1, which has killed at least 96 people since 2003, mainly in Asia, has been detected in a number of countries surrounding Albania, including Greece, Romaniaand Serbia. Enditem