Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- France confirmed that a wild duck found dead near the border with Switzerland was infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu that that has killed at least 91 people, mainly in Southeast Asia, since late 2003.

Tests were continuing on about 15 dead birds from different locations around the country, Agence France-Presse reported, citing French food authorities.

Outbreaks in birds are being reported daily across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, creating more opportunity for human infection and increasing the risk the virus will mutate into a pandemic form. Yesterday, the lethal strain was found in India.

Authorities are checking birds within a 10 kilometer (6 mile) radius of where the duck was found on Feb. 13 in Ain, in the Rhone-Alps region. The virus hasn't reached poultry farms so there's no need to cull chickens, Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau said at a press briefing yesterday broadcast on LCI television.

The French agriculture ministry reported on Feb. 17 that the duck was infected with the H5 avian-flu subtype. A second test has confirmed it's the H5N1 strain, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.

Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said poultry and humans haven't been affected, according to AFP, which cited an interview on Europe 1 radio today. France is Europe's biggest poultry producer, according to AFP.

``There will be no financial or economic obstacle in preparing France in the face of these risks,'' Bertrand said during the interview.

Avian flu has swept across the European Union in the past 10 days, with outbreaks in Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia, as well as in Turkey, Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan. Egypt is the second country in Africa, after Nigeria, to report infected birds.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at

acimino1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 19, 2006 09:14 EST