BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai fans of cock fighting, a sport popular in both town and countryside, will have to wait to place their next bet until the bird flu epidemic is over, the government said Tuesday. Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphana said cock fighting had been banned temporarily because the birds were often taken long distances to their sand-pit arenas and might therefore spread the avian①influenza, which has now hit 10 Asian countries. The disease, responsible for at least 12 deaths in Vietnam and Thailand, was spread to southern Thailand by fighting cocks transported there from areas in the north and center where major outbreaks have occurred, she told reporters