Five people have been quarantined in Malaysia with suspected bird flu virus as chicken sales plunged 30 percent following a new outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus, officials said Saturday.

Ramlee Rahmat, director of the health ministry's disease control division, said five people were admitted to hospital for observation late Friday.

"Five people with symptoms - high temperature and respiratory infection -- were taken in for observation late Friday. The results will be known Sunday," he told AFP.

Ramlee said the five - three children and two adults - were aged between four and 44.

"They live some 300 meters (yards) from one of the outbreak areas," he said.

No human cases have so far been reported in Malaysia, which last reported the H5N1 virus in a chicken in the northern state of Kelantan in 2004.

People avoid chicken

Lee Chong Meng, adviser to the Selangor and Federal Territory Poultry Traders Association, told AFP that at a meeting two days ago, chicken dealers said sales had plunged 30 percent in West Malaysia.

Lee said commercial farms in West Malaysia produce some 35 million chickens a month for domestic demand and the usual daily consumption is 1.2 million chickens.

"Following the outbreak, people are avoiding chicken. There are about 300,000 chickens in surplus supply daily now," he said.

Lee said the fall in demand was a concern to the country's poultry industry which employs thousands of workers.

"If the situation continues it will cause heavy losses to commercial farm owners," he said.

On Monday, Malaysia confirmed its first outbreak of avian influenza in more than a year after 40 free-range chickens died in four villages near Kuala Lumpur.

An initial group of 10 people from the affected villages who were hospitalised late Tuesday complaining of flu symptoms and respiratory problems have all tested negative for the virus.