The European Commission says it is banning the import of live birds and poultry from Romania after tests detected a strain of avian flu in several birds.

The European Commission said Thursday, scientists detected the H5 bird flu in samples taken from two chickens and a duck in the Danube delta.

However, the Commission said it was not clear whether the virus detected was the strain of H5N1 bird flu that has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since 2003.

Suspected cases of avian influenza in Romania, combined with the outbreak in Turkey, have raised concern in the European Union, which fears the disease could spread from Asia into the 25-nation bloc.

The EU Commission slapped a ban on imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey on Monday, after an outbreak in the northeast of the country.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.