The United States government yesterday warned that the avian flu, popularly known as the bird flu, may mutate into a deadly pandemic worldwide and could end up claiming millions of lives globally, especially in developing countries.

North Korea has claimed it developed a poultry vaccine against the deadly H5N1 type of bird flu and is inoculating chickens as part of stepped-up efforts to prevent the disease following outbreaks in South Korea.

An unusual group of Boston residents is calling for more monitoring of the chemicals in our bodies.

At least 2,000 mallard ducks have died within a few days in a remote area of southern Idaho, a development that confounded state wildlife officials Wednesday.

State wildlife agencies and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Wednesday were testing more than 1,000 mallard ducks dying in a bizarre cluster in Idaho, hoping to rule out an avian flu outbreak.

The Myanmar livestock authorities continued to monitor possible bird-flu-virus carrying migratory bird in a bid to prevent reoccurrence of the avian influenza in the country.

Officials scrambled on Wednesday to determine what has caused the deaths of thousands of mallard ducks in south-central Idaho near the Utah border.

A bacterial infection may be blamed for killing hundreds of ducks along Land Creek Springs, a waterway near Oakley, Idaho.