Korean officials said Tuesday some 6 million ducks and chickens have been slaughtered since the spread of bird flu in this capital city.

The agriculture ministry said that this year is the worst bird flu outbreak to hit the city

A graduate school of public health will open in September at the University of Toronto, which will deal with epidemic diseases. Leading epidemiologist Jack Mandel will the director of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

The school is named after Paul Dalla Lana, chairman and founder of the NorthWest Healthcare Properties, which provided the $20 million grant to fund the school

A new study shows a statistically significant link between industrial release of mercury and increased rates of autism in children at a time when more Americans are using compact fluorescent light bulbs that can release mercury if thrown in the trash instead of being carefully recycled.

The study published in the journal Health & Place by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, showed that there is a statistically significant association between autism risk and the distance from a mercury source. It is the first time such a link has been published in scientific literature

Health authorities in South Korea have placed under quarantine a soldier who developed high fever while culling chickens and ducks to contain an outbreak of bird flu in the country.

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention found the 22-year-old corporal to be infected with an H5 strain of the deadly avian influenza virus on Sunday, when he suffered high fever, a symptom of bird flu, according to the JoongAng Daily. He will remain under quarantine until further laboratory tests confirm whether or not the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain

Authorities have decided to cull thousands of chickens and imposed restrictions on import of poultry after confirming a fresh outbreak of bird flu in the country's northeastern Tripura state.

Samples of dead poultry from villages in Mohanpur under West Tripura district sent to the High Security Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Bhopal last week tested positive, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported quoting sources