BRUSSELS, Aug 28 (Reuters) - EU veterinary experts are likely to meet next week to reassess poultry trade and movement curbs imposed in the German state of Bavaria after an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, the bloc's executive said.

As a standard short-term measure to prevent the spread of the disease, German authorities set up a protection and surveillance zone around the Bavarian duck farm where the highly pathogenic strain was detected at the weekend.

That zone, comprising an initial 3-km protection radius followed by a 10-km surveillance radius, is classified as a high-risk area (zone A), surrounded by a low-risk buffer zone (zone B) that separates it from disease-free parts of Germany.

The German measures were then approved by veterinary experts at the European Commission, in a decision published on Tuesday in the latest edition of the EU's Official Journal.

"The Commission has examined those measures in collaboration with Germany, and is satisfied that the borders of areas A and B ... are at a sufficient distance to the actual location of the outbreak," the notice said.

"Areas A and B in Germany can therefore be confirmed and the duration of that regionalisation fixed," it said. EU vets, representing the bloc's 27 member states, will now meet to assess developments in Bavaria and reassess the poultry protection measures in place. This is expected for next week.

"There is one (meeting) foreseen in early September but the date has not yet been fixed," a Commission official said.

"It would be a question of revisiting the Commission decision and if necessary adapting the zones ... or making any adaptations that may be necessary if the situation evolves."

At present, strict movement controls are in place for poultry inside the high-risk area. Poultry must be kept indoors and gatherings of poultry and other birds are banned.

Bird flu was suspected on the Bavarian farm when an abnormally high mortality rate was detected in a flock of almost 170,000 ducks, with more than 400 ducks dying in a short period.

Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed 195 people out of 322 known cases, according to the World Health Organisation. Hundreds of millions of birds have died or been slaughtered.

The vast majority of bird flu deaths have been in Asia. No deaths have yet been registered in the European Union.

The strain can spread rapidly through poultry flocks and wild birds are considered to be contributing to its spread around the globe. It does not jump easily from birds to humans.

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