(Adds details on deaths, background)

JAKARTA, March 29 (Reuters) - Two more Indonesians have died of bird flu, a Health Ministry official said on Thursday, taking the country's confirmed human death toll from the H5N1 virus to 71, the highest in the world.

A 14-year-old boy from West Sumatra died on March 24 soon after being admitted to hospital in the city of Padang, Joko Suyono of the ministry's bird flu centre said by telephone.

"He was suffering from fever and respiratory problems," the official said. "Two weeks before, at least 10 of his neighbour's chickens died suddenly."

Suyono said the second victim was a 28-year-old woman from Jakarta who died on Wednesday at a hospital in the capital.

"We are still investigating whether she had had any contact with fowl before."

Indonesia agreed on Tuesday to resume sharing bird flu virus samples for research in exchange for a World Health Organisation (WHO) pledge to restrict drug company access to them.

The agreement ended a stand-off between Jakarta and the WHO that began in December when Indonesia refused to share samples of the H5N1 virus unless it had guarantees they would not be used commercially.

The WHO and other experts say sharing samples is vital to finding ways to fight the virus, while Indonesia, Thailand and some other developing countries want to make sure they have access to human vaccines at reasonable prices.

The virus is endemic among fowl in many parts of Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. Human cases generally involve contact with infected birds.

Bird flu has swept through poultry across Asia and on to Africa and Europe. Experts say it could mutate into a form easily passing from one person to another, possibly killing millions in months.

Indonesia has had difficulty controlling the disease because millions of Indonesians keep small numbers of chickens, ducks and other domesticated birds, for food and to supplement incomes.

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