KATHMANDU, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government has declared Sharanamtai Village Development Committee and adjoining areas in the eastern Jhapa district a bird flu emergency area after reoccurrence of bird flu disease was confirmed, The Kathmandu Post reported on Saturday.

    According to the daily, the test carried out in the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Kathmandu and OIL Reference Laboratory in London detected H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus in all six chicken samples collected from a poultry farm, some 320 km southeast of Kathmandu, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Hari Dahal said Friday.

    The samples were sent to the laboratories for the detection of the virus following the death of some 150 chickens in the poultry farm.

    Nepal had managed to remain safe from the avian virus even after it was traced in neighboring villages of India.

    After the first outbreak of the disease in the country on Jan. 16, the government had declared emergency in the area that lies within a radius of 10 km from the quarantine office in Kakarbhittaof Jhapa district.

    The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has said that measures will be taken to control the virus. In the emergency area, all birds, bird products and materials used for production of poultry will be destroyed.