Russian authorities have confirmed two new cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, bringing the number of H5N1 cases on the outskirts of Moscow to five, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.

A total of 333 birds have died in seven suburban Moscow districts since Feb. 9 and an additional 1,500 birds have been culled, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Following laboratory tests in Moscow, the presence of the H5N1 bird flu strain has been confirmed in five districts: Domodedovo, Odintsovo, Podolsk, Naro-Fominsk and Taldom, the ministry said.

Moscow's Sadovod market has been closed after poultry that died of bird flu was found to have been sold at the market.

Russia's most recent bird flu outbreak occurred in mid-January in the southern region of Krasnodar. No human cases of bird flu have been reported in the country.

According to the World Health Organization, the bird flu virus has killed 167 people worldwide since it reemerged in Asia in 2003.