The European Union (EU) on Wednesday confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian flu in southeast Hungary, the first such outbreak in the EU since last August.

EU member states have heightened their surveillance measures to prevent a spread of the disease, the European Commission said in a statement.

In August last year, one case of highly pathogenic H5 avian flu was found in a zoo in Dresden, Germany.

In Hungary, the virus was suspected when an abnormally high mortality rate was reported in a flock of over 3,000 geese in Csongrad County, the commission said.

Diagnostic tests carried out by Hungary's national laboratory confirmed the virus as the highly pathogenic H5 strain, and samples will now be sent to the EU's reference laboratory in Britain to determine if it is the H5N1 virus.

Upon suspicion of the disease, the Hungarian authorities have already culled the infected flock, the commission said, adding that they are now establishing a protection zone of three kilometers radius and a surveillance zone of 10 kilometers around the infected holding.

In the surveillance zone, poultry must be kept indoors, movement of poultry is banned except directly to the slaughterhouse.

Strict movement controls are in place in the country, and there is a prohibition on gatherings of poultry and other birds and on-farm bio-security measures will be strengthened, the commission said.

It said heightened surveillance is in place throughout the EU, to identify and eradicate the H5N1 virus as quickly as possible.

The disease situation will be reviewed at a meeting of the EU member states' veterinary experts on Friday, the commission said.