A new bird flu outbreak has been recorded in a Siberian region that was hit by the disease last summer, officials said today.

Veterinary officials slaughtered poultry in a small village in central Russia today as fears grew that the bird flu that has swept through parts of Siberia could reach Moscow.

PRELIMINARY tests on fowl from a region south of Moscow where hundreds of birds died suddenly detected the H5N1 strain of bird flu, Russia’s Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.