Two people in Malaysia are being tested for suspected bird flu after displaying symptoms of the disease, a senior health ministry official said today.

A three-year old girl from northern Penang state and a 26-year-old man from neighbouring Perak state are in isolation while awaiting test results for the H5N1 virus, said the ministry's director for disease control, Ramlee Rahmat.

"They have been isolated pending further investigation. They are both stable," Ramlee told AFP . "The test results will come back in one or two days."

The country has suffered five outbreaks of the H5N1 virus among poultry in the last ten days, four of them in Perak and one in Penang.

Another two discharged

The child was brought in with a fever and the man had a respiratory infection, said Ramlee. Both were admitted to local hospitals a few days ago after being found during door-to-door checks by health officials in a 300-metre radius from the recent outbreaks.

"People are very cooperative and I think our boys are doing their work diligently," Ramlee said of the checks.

He said another two men from Perak who were isolated during the week have been discharged after testing negative for the virus.

Malaysia has yet to report human cases of bird flu.

Bird flu has killed at least 104 people out of over 180 infected worldwide, mostly in Asia, over the past two years.