The spokesman said no samples had been sent to Britain for testing as yet. Romania earlier said further testing would take place in Britain after its own scientists' tests.

The Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, near London, is the European reference laboratory for avian influenza. The laboratory is an agency of DEFRA.

The spokesman said Britain was also in touch via the European Commission with Turkish authorities to see if any assistance was needed there after Turkey reported its first outbreak of the disease on a farm near the Aegean Sea.

Romania culled hundreds of birds and quarantined villages on Sunday to try to halt the spread of bird flu. Medical teams were sent to test for possible human cases and to vaccinate the population but officials said there had been no cases of flu among the delta's people.

Officials said scientists had so far been unable to isolate the virus in the suspect birds, indicating it was less likely to be a virulent strain, but tests would continue for several days.