Vietnam’s three top leaders have quit to make way for younger politicians in a long-awaited shuffle of the communist nation’s government, an official said today.

China and Vietnam banned poultry imports from countries with bird flu as US and Chinese officials met today to co-ordinate strategy on stopping the spread of the deadly virus.

China’s vast size and its developing disease reporting systems have made it “weak and vulnerable” against bird flu, a top Chinese official said today, while Thailand reported two new suspected human cases of the deadly virus.