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Bird Flu death toll reaches 20 while officials plan action

Bird flu has claimed its 20th fatality in Asia with the death of a 13-year-old boy in Thailand, while zoos across the region were reeling as the disease hit some exotic species after wiping out millions of chickens and ducks.

The boy died late Saturday at a hospital in the country's northeast, where he'd been in intensive care after testing positive for the avian flu virus on Thursday, said Charal Trinvuthipong, director-general of the Public Health Ministry's Department of Communicable Disease Control.

The disease is now confirmed in six human deaths in Thailand and 14 in Vietnam.

The Thai boy, whose identity hasn't been released, became sick 10 days after his family's chickens started dying mysteriously.

"The boy's condition got slightly better before it worsened rapidly," and he then died, Charal said, adding that the disease had harmed the victim's kidneys.

A 1-year-old girl from Thai-land's northeast became the latest person suspected of having the disease Saturday, a doctor said.

Indian authorities said they plan to hold an emergency meeting of health and agricultural officials from seven South Asian nations on Monday in New Delhi to draft a strategy to prevent the spread of bird flu in the highly populous region.

World Health Organization officials have expressed concern that China may also be suffering human cases given the broad range of poultry infections in that sprawling country.

China on Saturday reported four new confirmed bird flu cases among poultry, all in the country's south.

Also see story:
Bird flu threatens to sink China's poultry business
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