The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was reported in Vietnam´s capital Hanoi on Wednesday after more than 1,000 young chickens died of the virus, the ministry of agriculture said

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said a series of tests had confirmed the wild bird found last week was H5N1 positive.

It was the latest in a series of wild birds found in Hong Kong this year to have been infected with the virus, which killed more than 160 people since 2003.

Wild migratory birds have been blamed for the global spread of the disease.

Biologists believe local species of wild birds found dead with the virus could have picked it up from contact with infected flocks in mainland China, where it is believed the strain first mutated into a form deadly to humans.

Hong Kong was the scene of the world´s first reported major bird flu outbreak among humans in 1997, when six people died.

World Health Organisation experts say a pandemic of the virus among humans would kill millions worldwide.