Pakistani scientists have found the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in small flock of chickens near the capital, Islamabad, almost a year after the virus was found in two poultry flocks.

Mohammad Afzal, Livestock Commissioner at the Ministry of Agriculture, said all the chickens in the flock of about 40 birds at a house in Rawalpindi, a city adjoining Islamabad, had died or been culled.

"They tested positive for the H5N1 strain," Afzal told Reuters. "It has been contained and there is no danger of the spread of this virus because there are no poultry farms near this house."