DUESSELDORF, Germany -- An additional 6,000 chickens will be slaughtered in North Rhine-Westphalia in Western Germany, where veterinary officials have uncovered a suspected case of bird flu, AFP quoted the regional Environment Ministry as saying Saturday.

German federal authorities on Friday ordered 90,000 birds to be culled in a three-kilometer (1.8 mile) radius around a farm where a bird was found with symptoms of the highly contagious disease, which has ravaged Dutch and Belgian poultry farms.

The Environment Ministry also said that three farms in Viersen, near the Dutch border in Western Germany, had been cordoned off after taking delivery of chickens from the farm where the suspected bird flu case was found.

A three-day ban has also been imposed on the transportation of live poultry within the regional state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and a ban on the movement within 10 kilometers of Viersen of eggs destined for consumption.

Final results confirming whether the bird flu is indeed present will be disclosed next week. In neighboring Belgium, authorities ordered the slaughter of poultry on 10 new farms Saturday, including for the first time in the south of the country, after new suspected cases of bird flu.