Greifswald, Germany, Safar 15, 1438, November 15, 2016, SPA -- An outbreak of avian flu in at least six European countries was likely caused by birds migrating from Russia, according to Germany's national animal health institute. Thomas Mettenleiter, president of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, said the H5N8 virus was detected in mid-2016 in wild birds in central Russia, Siberia and Mongolia, dpa reported. Since the highly infectious virus detected in central Europe is "very similar" to that detected in Russia, it was safe to assume that it arrived via wild birds, he said. Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Denmark and Austria have all confirmed cases of the virus, which was first isolated from migratory waterfowl in South Korea in 2014. --SPA 11:44 LOCAL TIME 08:44 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w269714