Vietnam will host an international conference later this month to discuss ways to combat the growing bird flu outbreak that has killed 12 people in Vietnam in a month, an official said today.

The human toll in Asia’s bird flu crisis rose today to 18 with two more deaths in Vietnam, and a UN official said pigs tested positive for the virus that has infected tens of millions of poultry across the region.

Pigs in Vietnam have tested positive for the bird flu virus that has infected millions of poultry across Asia and killed 18 people, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation said in Hanoi.