Austria ? Health officials said that several cats in Austria have tested positive for the deadly strain of bird flu, the first reported case of an animal other than a bird catching the strain in that country.

Two or three cats have the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease, Hans Seitinger, the top agriculture official in the southern state of Styria, told state broadcaster ORF.

Last month, German authorities confirmed that a cat in that country had died of the deadly virus. Scientists believe that cat caught the disease by eating an infected bird.

Also in February, the H5N1 strain was detected in a wild bird in Austria for the first time. Since then, several dozen cases in birds have been confirmed.

Meanwhile, officials in Poland confirmed on Monday the first case of the H5N1 flu in that country. Two swans found dead about 120 miles northwest of Warsaw tested positive for the deadly strain.