New Delhi - Indian authorities on Monday confirmed a new outbreak of avian influenza in the north-eastern state of Tripura, a news report said.

Samples of dead fowl sent to a government laboratory in the central Indian city of Bhopal had tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, the PTI news agency reported quoting official sources.

At least 5,000 fowl had died in a village in the eastern Dhalai district of the state over the past one week, prompting the Tripura government to send the samples to the laboratory.

Health agencies in Tripura were expected to launch culling operations later on Monday.

The report said bird flu had spread from the neighbouring state of West Bengal where authorities were already culling fowl in a third affected district.

Both Tripura and West Bengal border Bangladesh, from where authorities suspect the virus had originally spread.

"The virus could have been transmitted through smuggling of poultry birds from bordering Bangladesh, which is hit by avian flu again," West Bengal Animal Resource Minister Anisur Rahman told reporters.

An earlier outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, confirmed on January 15, had been described as the worst outbreak in India so far by the World Health Organization.

A total of 14 of the 19 districts in the state, including Murshidabad, had been affected.

The authorities culled over 4 million birds in an effort to contain the disease which spreads rapidly. Officials announced in early February that the disease had been contained and subsequently lifted a ban on sale and consumption of poultry.

According to the federal Health Ministry no cases of human infection had been reported in the current outbreak and the state government had adequate stock of Oseltamivir and personal protective equipment to tackle the disease.

India has so far seen three major outbreaks of bird flu, but has not yet reported any cases of human infection. (dpa)