Five poultry samples in east China have tested positive for H7N9, the country's agriculture authority said on Tuesday.

The avian flu virus, which has so far led to the deaths of 14 people nationwide, was detected in one pigeon sample from Jiangsu Province and four chicken samples from Zhejiang Province, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.

The pigeon sample is from Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu, and the other samples are from Huzhou city, in Zhejiang.

After gene sequence analysis, the national avian flu reference laboratory concluded that the strain of the H7N9 virus found in the five samples was highly congeneric with that found in a pigeon on April 4.

The ministry has ordered the two provinces to carry out proper disposal strictly in line with relevant guidelines and increase the monitoring scope of the virus. Thorough disinfection is obligatory.