Bird flu is back. In recent weeks, there have been reported cases in South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia. Now a 14-year-old Azerbaijani boy, who was treated for suspected bird flu, has died in the capital, Baku.

Rising numbers of human bird flu deaths in Indonesia and avian flu outbreaks among poultry in several Asian countries have put the region on alert. The World Health Organization says Asia, Africa, even Europe, need to be prepared for the worse. Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Indonesian health officials say two women infected with the bird flu virus have died, bringing to 61 the number of people who have died from the disease in the country.

In December, avian influenza broke out in three southern Vietnamese provinces. Although Vietnam has a record of acting quickly to halt outbreaks of the virus, this time, farmers were reluctant to inform the government, slowing containment efforts. Matt Steinglass has more from Hanoi.

Authorities in Vietnam say four members of a family have been hospitalized with symptoms of bird flu, in the country's first suspected cases of the disease in more than a year.

Indonesia's top bird flu official says the country hopes to cut human cases from the virus to zero by the end of 2007.

An Egyptian woman has died of bird flu, says the regional officer of the World Health Organization.