KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--Malaysia checked five sailors for bird flu on Friday in the first possible cases outside a northern state where an outbreak erupted five weeks ago.

The sailors already were showing signs of recovering at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah state on the tip of Borneo island, said Ramlee Rahmat, director-general of Malaysia´s Health Department.

The navy personnel fell ill with flu-like symptoms after coming across dead swallows on Layang-Layang island, part of the disputed Spratlys group. They were hospitalized under observation, Ramlee said.

Test results on the sailors were unlikely before at least Monday.  

Remains of the swallows were recovered from the island and also were being tested, said Hawari Hussein, director of the Veterinary Department.

Though it was unknown where the birds came from, Malaysia has been dreading the spread of the deadly H5N1 flu strain since the first case was found Aug. 17 in a village in the northern peninsular state of Kelantan.

The entire state was placed under quarantine last week after the disease jumped outside an initial 10-kilometer restricted area. The disease came from fighting cocks smuggled from nearby Thailand.

The Spratlys, which are claimed in whole or part by six nations, lie more than 1,000 kilometers west of Kelantan.

The World Health Organization says that migratory birds are spreading the disease and believe it is entrenched in parts of Asia after first appearing

this year.

No humans have been infected so far in Malaysia, but H5N1 has killed at least 28 people in Thailand and Vietnam.

Veterinary workers have culled more than 7,000 chickens, ducks and pet birds in Kelantan to stop the spread of the disease, touching off a debate in the deeply conservative state over whether the practice is Islamic.

Kelantan Chief Minister Nik Aziz Nik Mat said Thursday that the cull ?in which birds are stuffed into plastic bags and gassed - was as humane as possible but should be done out of public view to avoid upsetting people.