SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus on a farm in the northeastern district of Dobrich, the national food safety agency said on Monday.

The virus, found on a farm in the town of General Toshevo, located near the border with Romania, would lead to the death of 140,000 birds, the agency said.

“A three-kilometer protection zone and a 10-km observation area around the livestock area were set up,” the agency said in a statement, adding that a ban on the trade and movement of domestic, wild and other birds and trade in eggs, had been imposed.

The Balkan country has also registered four cases of bird flu since October.

The virulence of highly pathogenic bird flu viruses has prompted countries such as Saudi Arabia to bar poultry imports from Bulgaria.