This picture taken on Feb 22, 2017 in Bourriot-Bergonce, western France, shows ducks confined at a farm located some 10 kilometers away from the flu-hit southwestern area. (GEORGES GOBET / AFP)

PARIS – The highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in a duck farm in France's southwestern department of Gironde, French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday.

According to Le Figaro, the owner had bought, without knowing, infected animals in a barnyard in the Seine-et-Marne department located in eastern Paris.

The bird flu has caused the culling of 21 million animals in France since last winter

Regulated protection and surveillance zones have been set up around the outbreak by the local authorities.

It is the second case of avian influenza in the department, according to Le Figaro.

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The bird flu has caused the culling of 21 million animals in France since last winter.