Rapid on-spot testing for influenza virus can greatly assist in the clinical management decision. In Egypt, where avian influenza A virus H5Nl is now endemic and human infections are on the rise, rapid H5N1 detection in infected poultry is essential for controlling spread to human. To test the performance of two rapid influenza tests for the detection in naturally infected birds, clinical specimens from different species and organs of sick and dead birds collected during 2007 and 2009 in Egypt were tested using virus culture in embryonating chicken eggs and RT-PCR as references. Influenza rapid tests efficiently detected H5N1 in clinical samples derived from different organs including lung, liver and brain tissues with high sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity and specificity were 71% and 100% for Sysmex avian influenza kit and 86% and 33% for Sysmex influenza MB kit. Thus, Sysmex avian influenza kit was shown to be a potentially useful tool for the direct and rapid detection of H5N1 in clinical specimens due to its high specificity. Additionally, an advantage over the other kit is specifically reacting with viruses of avian origin but not human or even swine origin, thus proving worthy for discriminating influenza A infections.