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Thailand has confirmed its first outbreak of a deadly strain of bird flu for the year.
The announcement comes as the sixth person in three weeks dies from the virus in Vietnam.
Thailand's Livestock Department has declared a state of high alert across the country after 20 cases of bird flu were found in fighting cocks in the eastern province of Rayong.
A second outbreak has been confirmed hundreds of kilometres to the north in 50 chickens in the central Phitsanulok province.
In its latest report on preparedness for an influenza pandemic, the organisation says the situation "may resemble that leading to the 1918 pandemic", which killed more than 40 million people.
The United Nations health agency fears that the H5N1 bird flu virus could mutate into a deadly human form.
It is again urging countries and drugs companies to speed development and production of a vaccine.
The death toll in Asia stands at 38 - 26 in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand - from the latest outbreak.