The agriculture ministry pointed out that other countries in the region have had similar scares but that it turned out the birds died of other causes.

To date, the Western Hemisphere has had no confirmed case of H5N1 bird flu, which has spread from Asia to Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East, killing more than 90 people since it surfaced in 2003.

"Preliminary field reports on the investigation of unexplained death of birds on the island of Inagua in the Southern Bahamas were exaggerated," the ministry said in a statement.

The dead birds were found in a wildlife reserve on the southern Bahamas island of Great Inagua, which has a population of about 50,000 flamingos and a large lake popular with migrating birds.

Park officials initially said more than a dozen birds, including 10 flamingos, were found dead, but the ministry said "only five birds were involved in the reported incident on that island, reducing the likelihood of an outbreak of avian influenza H5N1."

"Veterinary experts indicate that the presence of the deadly H5N1 would have decimated the large flock of flamingoes and other birds on that island."

The statement said the birds had been dead for days, and that no new incidents of bird deaths have been reported since on Inagua.

"I think it's fair to say that the problem does not exist in the Bahamas," the Bahama Journal quoted Agriculture Minister Leslie Miller as saying. He said the conclusion was supported by the local Pan American Health Organisation representative.

Miller pointed out that because tourism was the main source of income for the chain of Atlantic islands, "we need to let our visitors know and especially Bahamians, that there's nothing to fear in regards to this avian flu that does not exist in the Bahamas at this time and hopefully in the future."

The ministry said a team deployed to investigate the bird deaths and collect samples was on its way back to the capital Thursday. Officials said US experts may be asked to help out in conducting tests on the carcasses.

Eric Carey, director of Parks and Science for the Bahamas National Trust, which runs the Inagua National Park, said earlier "any number of things," including poisoning or weather could have caused the deaths.

"We remain optimistic it is related one of these factors rather than the anticipated speculation of bird flu or some other terrible disease," he said.

While the affected birds are not migratory birds, they do come into contact with geese and ducks, which will soon make their way north to the United States.

Miller said reports of the suspicious bird deaths had caused a downturn in the stock of Kerzner International, which manages tourist resorts in the Bahamas.

"Remember, the Bahamas is a tourism centre that attracts some five million tourists a year," he said, pointing out that rumors of an outbreak could damage the industry.

"Luckily for us no outbreak has taken place," the Bahama Journal quoted the minister as saying.

Great Inagua, the southernmost island in the Bahamas chain is located 60 miles from Cuba and Haiti, and 530 miles from the United States, where authorities announced Wednesday they had purchased millions of doses of anti-viral drugs to handle a possible bird flu pandemic.

The 14.15 million new anti-viral doses will be added to a stockpile of 5.5 million doses that would be distributed if a pandemic is believed to be imminent, US authorities said.