HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Vietnam confirmed Wednesday a 14-month-old baby who died earlier this month had tested positive for avian flu, bringing the region´s death toll from the disease to 30.

The infant boy from Thanh Tri District in Hanoi is the 20th victim to die from the disease in Vietnam, a Health Ministry official said condition of anonymity. The baby had developed a high fever, convulsions and a cough Aug. 28 and died Sept. 5 at Hanoi´s Pediatrics Hospital, he said.

The death came after the disease re-emerged in the region for the second time this year. Early in the year, avian flu swept across 10 countries in Asia, killing or forcing the cull of 100 million poultry.

Neighbouring Thailand, the only other country with human fatalities, has reported 10 deaths and announced Tuesday the possibility human-to-human transmission occurred in its latest case.

Scientists have believed the human infections have been caused through contact with sick poultry. However, the outbreak has raised the spectre of the virus mutating into a highly contagious form that could be easily passed between people.

Last month, the World Health Organization sent in a team of experts to investigate the most recent outbreaks in Vietnam after three people died in August.