On Monday, French authorities reported three more cases of bird flu in the South of the country. Tests are ongoing to establish the strain of virus, but cases of a highly pathogenic strain were discovered last month in the same area.

New cases were discovered this week as a result of testing in the South-West, where three cases of H5N1 strain were detected last month. On Monday, officials from France’s agriculture department said health agency ANSES will be carrying out further tests and the agriculture ministry is overseeing moves to reduce the risk of spread.

Authorities said the strain appears to be a European one, which has evolved from a low pathogenic form of bird flu into one that poses a serious threat to birds. However, agriculture officials insisted that there is no link between a strain’s pathogenicity in birds and its effect on humans.

Agriculture minister Stéphane Le Foll said in a statement on Monday that bird flu cannot be transmitted to humans through consuming poultry products.

After the first three cases in the Dordogne, France’s animal health surveillance network has been put on nationwide high alert. The new cases were detected in the Landes and Dordogne departments, with one case in guinea fowl (Landes) and two affecting ducks (one in Landes, one in Dordogne).

Last week the Commission praised the response of the French government to earlier outbreaks in the Dordogne. These included killing all birds on the infected holdings, introducing protection and surveillance zones around all infected farms, introducing strict biosecurity measures and preventing movements of live birds in the region.

Though there have been a number of bird flu outbreaks in Northern Europe in recent years, including the UK late last year and in July this year, these outbreaks have been the first reported in France for eight years.

A number of France’s trading partners have introduced restrictions on French products in response to the outbreaks.