An exclusion zone has been set up around the farm

Germany has confirmed that it has uncovered its first case of the highly contagious bird flu that has ravaged farms in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The health ministry said that tests on a farm in Viersen, near the Dutch border in western Germany, were positive.

The confirmation comes four days after veterinary officials slaughtered 32,000 chickens to try to contain the disease.

Farmers within one kilometre of Viersen had been ordered to slaughter poultry as a precaution, roads were sealed off and disinfection points set up.

There was also a ban on the movement of eggs within 10km of Viersen.

The European Commission has extended to Germany a number of emergency measures already imposed on Belgium and the Netherlands.

Avian flu affects chickens, turkeys, ducks and other birds, and was spotted in the Netherlands in late February.

Since then it has led to the slaughter of nearly 20 million chickens there and in neighbouring Belgium.

Experts say the current outbreak is not harmful to people but that the virus could mutate, triggering a potentially dangerous influenza epidemic.

Exports of poultry and eggs from the Netherlands and Belgium have been banned by the European Union until Friday.

EU officials are due to meet shortly to decide whether to extend the ban.