The German state of Saxony said today the H5N1 bird flu strain had been detected in a duck at a poultry farm near Dresden.
"Tests are being carried out to determine whether it is the highly contagious version of the epidemic," said Ralph Schreiber, spokesman for Saxony's social welfare ministry.
The flu strain was detected in the duck during a routine examination at the farm, which held some 1,400 birds. All birds at the farm would be killed as a precaution, Mr Schreiber said, adding that access to the farm was blocked off.
Bird flu was last detected at a farm in Saxony in 2006. Last year, seven wild birds were found with the virus in the eastern state, Schreiber said.
The virus has infected 387 people in 15 countries, killing 245 of them, according to the World Health Organisation's Aug. 10 tally. Indonesia has the highest toll of any nation.
Although bird flu remains an animal disease, experts fear that the virus might mutate into a form easily passed from human to human, sparking a pandemic in which case millions could die.