Tests confirmed the H5N1 type of the bird flu virus in poultry at two farms in the eastern Czech Republic, the State Veterinary Authority (SVS) said today.
The virus was found at the two farms with 71,000 poultry, bringing the number of outbreaks at Czech farms to four. Vets are to cull all birds on the farms.
The Czechs found their first bird flu case, which involved the lethal H5N1 strain, at a turkey farm in the eastern part of the country in June.
The two farms where disease was reported yesterday are within a three-kilometre protective zone around another farm where H5N1 had been found.
Vets have extended the standard three-kilometre protection zone and ten-kilometre surveillance zone to include the two farms.
More than 30 countries have reported bird flu outbreaks in the past year, mostly in wild birds.
Globally, H5N1 has killed nearly 200 people out of more than 300 known cases, according to the World Health Organisation. None of the victims were from Europe.