KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia on Saturday dispelled fears of a widespread outbreak of bird flu in the country after ten of eleven patients hospitalised with flu-like symptoms tested negative for the H5N1 virus.

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said there were no human cases of bird flu in the country so far, state Bernama news agency reported.

"Due to the strong commitment by the government and cooperation from all sides, we were able to contain this outbreak from infecting people," Chua said.

Ten of the eleven people under observation in hospital Saturday have tested negative for the deadly H5N1 virus -- including two young boys, who were diagnosed with high fevers in northern Kedah state after playing with chickens in their village which later died.

The results for the 11th patient are not yet in.

Deputy director for disease control Zainuddin Wahab told AFP that samples from about 30 dead chickens in the village in Alor Star in Kedah showed the birds were not infected with the H5N1 virus, easing fears that an outbreak had spread.

Four out of seven patients hospitalised Friday from a village on the outskirts of the capital in central Selangor state have been discharged, deputy director general of health Ramlee Rahmat said, according to Bernama.

None of them tested positive for bird flu.

All live within 300 metres (yards) of the outbreak uncovered Wednesday in Sungai Buloh -- Malaysia's first in more than a year.

Health officials have conducted checks on 768 houses and 4,608 residents in Sungai Buloh and a neighbouring village, where 60 chickens have died of the H5N1 strain.

Thirty were advised to stay indoors after displaying flu-like symptoms but with no fever.

"This is a precautionary step that we have taken. Only if they have high temperatures will we refer them to a hospital," Chua said.

To date, about 3,500 birds have been slaughtered within a one-kilometre radius of the outbreak, while more birds will be culled within the next two days to contain the disease, officials said.

Malaysia reported H5N1 outbreaks in February 2006 when it appeared in free-range chickens near Kuala Lumpur, triggering the slaughter of tens of thousands of birds. There were no human cases.

Five other outbreaks followed but the country declared itself free of bird flu in June 2006.

H5N1 has killed 188 people and ravaged poultry flocks worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.