More than one thousand poultry were found dead in southern Israel on Thursday and initial tests showed that the birds had died from avian flu, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on its website.

The dead poultry were found in the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz in the western Negev. There are also reports of dead birds in nearby communities.

According to medical sources, initial tests carried out on a number of turkeys on the site showed that the birds had died from avian flu, although the virus is still being tested to confirm it is the deadly H5N1 strain.

The Agriculture Ministry convened an emergency session to discuss the issue, but refused at this stage to identify the virus.

Source: Xinhua