COTONOU, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Benin has discovered two outbreaks of bird flu among poultry in different locations which it suspects to be the deadly H5N1 strain, a senior health official said on Friday.

"We have taken samples which we have already sent to Italy to be confirmed but we are convinced that these (bird) deaths are due to the H5N1 strain of bird flu," Julien Toessi, a senior public health official, told Reuters in an interview.

If confirmed the cases would be the first in the West African country.

(Reporting by Samuel Elijah; Writing by Nick Tattersall)