Indonesian officials take samples from chicken at poultry market in Denpasar (file photo)

Indonesian health officials say initial tests show another two people have died of bird flu in recent days.

They say one person person died of the virus in western Sumatra, while another person died in the capital, Jakarta.

If further tests confirm the findings, they would raise Indonesia's death toll from the H5N1 strain of bird flu to 71. The World Health Organization tally differs, confirming 63 bird flu deaths in Indonesia since 2005. On Wednesday, Indonesian authorities reported three other deaths from bird flu over the past week.

In another development, Chinese state media say a 16-year-old boy died from the deadly strain of bird flu Tuesday in the eastern province of Anhui.

China says the virus has killed 15 people in the country since 2003, while the WHO puts China's death toll at 14.

The deadliest known strain of bird flu, H5N1, has killed at least 169 people worldwide, mostly in Asia.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.