SOFIA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian Food Safety Agency on Monday reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu.

The virus was detected in a farm for laying hens in the town of General Toshevo, some 500 km northeast of Sofia, the agency said in a statement on its website.

"Immediate steps have been taken to eradicate the outbreak according to European legislation," it said.

The 140,000 hens on the farm would be culled.

In addition, a 3 km protection zone and a 10 km observation area around the poultry farm have been set up, with a ban on the trade and movement of domestic and wild birds.

In late 2016 and early 2017, a wave of bird flu hit the Balkan country, affecting 116,308 poultry in 26 outbreaks located in nine provinces.