MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian agricultural watchdog confirmed Monday that a bird flu outbreak near Moscow over the weekend involved the deadly H5N1 virus.

Five cases of avian flu were registered last Saturday in various districts of the Moscow Region, all of which were traced to a single market in southwest Moscow.

"The virus is the Asian type of bird flu, which is dangerous for humans," said Alexei Alexeyenko, a spokesperson for the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision.

The emergencies ministry earlier said that 150 dead birds had been found at private farms in the Domodedovo, the Odintsovski, the Podolski, the Naro-Fominsk and the Taldomski districts of the Moscow region last week, but that no cases of humans infected by the virus have been registered so far.

"We have no reports indicating that the virus has been contracted by humans," the ministry said.

According to the World Health Organization, the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has claimed 167 human lives worldwide since it first appeared in Asia in 2003. It has since spread worldwide, and scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form transmissible between humans, sparking a global pandemic.

Russia recorded its first cases of avian flu in August 2005, but until now outbreaks have occurred only in southern provinces and in Siberia. The most recent bird flu outbreak occurred in mid-January in the southern region of Krasnodar, but it was contained by February.