India ? Indian health officials went door-to-door Monday searching for people sickened by the deadly bird flu strain.

Inspectors visited homes and farms surrounding Navapur, a town of 30,000 people, searching for signs of illness and making sure even chickens being raised at private homes were killed and properly disposed of.

Local officials near the affected area reported that a 27-year-old poultry farm owner died of bird flu-like symptoms, though tests had yet to determine the cause of death. Samples from at least eight other people hospitalized for flu-like symptoms near Navapur also were being tested, and results were expected later this week.

Elsewhere, hundreds of German troops disposed of dead wild birds in a desperate attempt to contain the fast-moving disease in Europe.

In Brussels, Belgium, European Union agriculture ministers discussed ways to combat bird flu – such as by vaccinating poultry – as the disease spread to half a dozen EU nations.

Malaysia announced the deaths of 40 chickens from the lethal H5N1 strain, the first reported cases of the virus in the country in more than a year.

In Hong Kong today, a dead magpie found near a street flower market was confirmed to have been infected by the H5N1 virus, the government said. It was the latest in a spate of bird deaths from the strain in recent weeks.