The Romanian government confirmed on Sunday that four chickens in eastern Romania had been infected with the H5 strain of bird flu.

The new bird flu cases were detected on Saturday in the small town of Cioacile, Gabriel Predoi, head of the national veterinary service,told the press.

The town, which has about 800 residents, has been under quarantine since late Saturday, Predoi said.

Local media reported that samples from the infected birds wouldbe sent to a laboratory in England to determine whether it was thefatal sub-strain of H5N1 bird flu virus that has killed at least 60 people in Asia.

It was the fourth bird flu outbreak in Romania since Thursday. Two others were found in the same area while another one was detected in southeastern Romania.

On Saturday, a private television station said eight domestic birds were found carrying the H5N1 virus in Ciocile. Local officials immediately quarantined the village and started culling the birds on Saturday night.

Romania discovered its first outbreak of bird flu in the Danubedelta on Oct. 7. So far, the country has reported no human cases of the epidemic.

on Saturday, Romania's neighbour, Ukraine, reported its first outbreak of avian flu in the Crimea peninsula.