A Burmese worker collects eggs at a chicken farm in Rangoon, 14 Mar 2007

Burma is reporting new cases of bird flu among poultry at a farm north of Rangoon, the fifth such outbreak in the country in recent weeks.

Burmese state media say 1,600 chickens died from the H5N1 strain of the virus on a farm in Hmawbi township (40 kilometers north of Rangoon) over the past week. The farm's remaining 20,000 poultry were culled as a precautionary measure.

The state-controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper says the new outbreak may have been caused by the movement of people and birds in the area. It says authorities have banned the sale and transport of poultry within six-kilometers of the farm.

The latest series of bird flu outbreaks in and around Rangoon began last month. They are the first reported in Burma since March 2006.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.