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By Masud Karim

DHAKA, March 22 (Reuters) - Bangladesh said on Thursday the H5N1 bird flu virus had been detected in poultry near the capital Dhaka.

"Avian influenza virus has been detected in a poultry firm in Savar, 25 km from Dhaka," the information ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

"A special meeting of the (government's) council of advisers was held today with chief adviser of the interim government Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair," it said.

"The council was informed by the health, agriculture and livestock advisers that samples from the Savar poultry tested in the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute and the National Institute of Animal Health in Bangkok showed the existence of the H5N1 virus."

The virus was found in the birds from a poultry firm run by Bangladesh's National Airlines Biman, which has already culled 30,000 birds over the last few days.

Biman officials had earlier denied the culling had any relation with bird flu. They were not immediately available on Thursday night for comment.

The information ministry statement said "H5N1 virus has not been detected anywhere else in the country (except in Savar) and that the government has taken necessary steps to prevent its further proliferation."

"The government has urged the country's people not to panic," it added.

Syed Abu Siddiq, secretary of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association, said there were 125,000 small and big firms in the country, producing 250 million broilers and 6 billion eggs annually.

He said some 40 million Bangladeshis were directly or indirectly associated with poultry farming.

Last year Bangladesh banned imports of chickens and eggs from 25 countries in Europe and Asia, including India, after H5N1 virus had been found there.

Security along the borders with India and Myanmar had been tightened and troops were asked to guard against smuggling of poultry into the country.

But it was impossible to totally stop smuggling along a 4,000-km (2,500-mile) frontier with India, one official said, adding that border guards had seized thousands of poultry birds over the last few months and burned them.

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