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 Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:12 am Post subject: Time line of events |
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MSNBC.com
Timeline Bird flu
Common in birds, avian influenza usually does not spread to people, but several instances of human infections have been reported since 1997.
1918
The Spanish Flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus, also an avian strain, kills an estimated 20 million to 50 million people worldwide, including roughly 550,000 in the United States.
1957
A flu pandemic caused by the H2N2 influenza virus kills 100,000 people.
1968
A flu pandemic caused by the H3N2 influenza virus kills 700,000 people. Both H2N2, which caused the 1957 pandemic, and H3N2 are likely to have arisen after an exchange of genes between avian and human flu viruses.
May 1997
The bird flu virus known as H5N1 is isolated for the first time in a human patient in Hong Kong. The virus infects 18 patients who had close contact with poultry, resulting in six deaths. Fortunately, the virus does not spread from person to person. Within three days, Hong Kong's entire chickent population is slaughtered to prevent further outbreak.
Sept. 1998
Positive trial results are announced for two new drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu, that target the influenza virus.
Jan. 1999
Relenza and Tamiflu are licensed for sale in the United States and Europe.
March 1999
Two children in Hong Kong are diagnosed with avian influenza caused by the strain H9N2, a milder strain than H5N1. Both patients recover and no other cases in Hong Kong are confirmed. Mainland China reports several additional cases caused by H9N2 during the same time frame.
Jan. 2001
The World Health organization outlines a new global plan to improve the range, speed and quality of influenza virus surveillance.
Feb. 2003
The avian flu virus H5N1 infects two people in Hong Kong who had recently traveled to China. One person recovers, while the other dies. Another family member dies after contracting a respiratory illness in China, but no testing is done to confirm the cause of death.
Feb. 28, 2003
An outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands kills a veterinarian and sickens more than 80 other people, mostly poultry workers and their families. The illnesses are caused by another strain of the avian influenza virus, known as H7N7, which results in mostly eye infections and some respiratory symptoms.
Dec. 2003
A child in Hong Kong is diagnosed with bird flu caused by the H9N2 strain. The child is hospitalized and later recovers.
Dec. 15, 2003
South Korea confirms the outbreak of a highly contagious form of bird flu at a chicken farm near Seoul and begins a mass slaughter of poulty after the virus rapidly spreads across the country.
Dec. 31, 2003
Taiwan reports its first case of bird flu and later destroys thousands of chickens infected with a milder form of the virus.
Jan. 2004
The World Health Organization confirms 11 human cases of H5N1 infection in Thailand and Vietnam, resulting in eight deaths. No cases of person-to-person transmission are identified.
The virus wreaks havoc among poultry in Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.
Researchers at labs in the United States and Britain work to develop a vaccine for use against H5N1 viruses isolated in 2003 and 2004.
Jan. 8, 2004
Vietnam announces the H5N1 avian flu virus has pread to many poultry farms.
Jan. 11, 2004
Japan says 6,000 chickens have died of avian influenza on a farm, and says it is the first time the disease has been confirmed in the country.
Jan. 13, 2004
The World Health Organization confirms that the deaths of three people in Vietnam are linked to bird flu caused by H5N1.
Jan. 12, 2004
Pakistan confirms an outbreak of bird flu.
Jan. 23, 2004
Cambodia confirms an outbreak of bird flu at a farm on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
Jan. 25, 2004
Pakistan says two million chickens have died of a mild form of bird flu, caused by the H7N7 and H9N2 strains.
Jan. 26, 2004
Indonesia discovers an outbreak of bird flu among chickens.
Thailand confirms a 6-year-old boy died of bird flu, the country's first human death from the virus.
Jan. 27, 2004
Bird flu kills ducks in Southern China, which begins culling 14,000 birds.
Feb. 2004
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization advises governments in areas affected by bird flu that mass culling of poultry is failing to halt the disease and that vaccination of targetd poultry flocks is also required.
Feb. 7-8, 2004
The H7N2 strain of bird flu is discovered in chickens on an independent grower’s farm in southern Kent County, Delaware. Officials immediately order the slaughter of 12,000 birds. The strain is fatal to poultry, but not to humans. The USDA says, "There is no evidence to suggest that this is transmissible to humans."
Feb. 9, 2004
Tests for avian flu at five Delaware poultry farms within a two mile radius of an infected flock show no sign of the disease.
Feb. 10, 2004
A second flock infected with a mild strain of the virus is found in northern Sussex County, Delaware. An additional 72,000 chickens are slaughtered and 80 farms in the region are quarantined for at least 30 days. Surprised state officials immediately ban the sale of live poultry in the state as a precaution.
Feb. 12, 2004
The WHO says tests confirm there is no evidence yet that the bird flu virus has developed the ability to pass from person to person.
Bird flu is detected at four live bird markets in New Jersey that were supplied by two Delaware farms that previously had reported the H7N2 strain of avian influenza.
Feb. 15, 2004
The human death toll from the H5N1 virus stands at 14 Vietnamese and six Thais.
Feb. 16, 2004
The bird flu virus kills a rare clouded leopard in a zoo near Bangkok, Thailand.
Feb. 20, 2004
The H5N2 strain of bird flu is found in a flock of 7,000 chickens in south-central Texas.
March 2004
Subsequent confirmatory tests show a patient admitted to a New York hospital with respiratory symptoms in Nov. 2003 had been infected with an H7N2 avian influenza virus.
March 6, 2004
The H7N2 strain of bird flu is found in a poultry farm in Maryland.
March 16, 2004
China declares it has stamped out the disease in all 49 hotbeds and has had no reports among poultry for 29 days.
April 6, 2004
The avian influenza virus H7N3 is confirmed in two poultry workers in British Columbia, Canada, who developed flu-like symptoms, but did not die.
May 26, 2004
Thailand reports a new case of bird flu in several dead chickens on a university research farm in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
June 2004
Tests on chickens and mice show that the H5N1 virus isolated from ducks in 2004 is becoming more virulent and harmful to mammals.
July 2004
Several countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, China and Indonesia, report new infectsion of H5N1 among poultry.
Aug. 2004
The H5N1 virus is reported to have killed three more people in Vietnam.
Chinese scientists report H5N1 infection in pigs.
In Vietnam and Thailand, the virus has infected at least 37 people with 26 deaths.
Aug. 19, 2004
Malaysia reports its first case of bird flu after a strain is found in two chickens that died near the border with Thailand.
Sept. 27, 2004
Thailand says it has found a bird flu case in which one human most likely infected another. Health officials said this was an isolated incident that posed little risk to the population.
Oct. 2004
British authorities suspend manufacturing of the 2004-2005 routine influenza vaccine at the Liverpool factory of Chiron Corp. after concerns about sterilization are raised. The move leads to a massive vaccine shortage, particularly in the United States where Chiron supplies 50 percent of the annual flu vaccine, and highlights the need for alternative vaccine manufacturing sources.
Nov. 2004
The WHO warns that the H5N1 bird flu virus could spark a flu pandemic that would likely kill millions of people. The U.N. health agency says it is concerned that "much of the world is unprepared for a pandemic" and needs to enhance preparedness to reduce the virus' potential impact.
WHO officials meet with vaccine makers, public health experts and government representatives in a bid to speed up the production of flu vaccines to avert a global pandemic.
Dec. 2004
The WHO reports the first human case of H5N1 in Vietnam since early Sept. 2004. Since the start of 2004, bird flu has caused 32 deaths in Vietnam and Thailand, and millions of chickens across Asia.
Dec. 15, 2004
Taiwan says it has discovered two strains of avian flu in migratory bird in the north of the island. The outbreak is caused by the milder H5N2 strain and the H5N6 strain.
Jan. 2005
Chinese authorities announce they have developed a new rapid test to diagnose bird flu that produces results in hours rather than days.
Feb. 2005
Thirteen more cases of bird flu have occurred in Vietnam since Dec. 2004, 12 fatal.
Cambodia reports its first human case of bird flu.
A report of likely person-to-person transmission of bird flu in Vietnam is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The World Health Organization makes prototype H5N1 vaccine strains available to a number of institutions and companies, and several vaccines are developed for clinical testing.
March 2005
Fifteen new human cases of H5N1 infection are reported in Vietnam along with one new case in Cambodia. Bird flu has spread to 10 countries, including North Korea, and killed around 50 million chickens.
April 2005
Vietnam has reported a total of 60 confirmed human cases of H5N1 avian influenza since the outbreaks began, with 35 deaths. Thailand has confirmed a total of 17 infections of which 12 have been fatal, while Cambodia has confirmed two fatal cases.
April 5, 2005
The United Nations says the H7 strain of bird flu, previously undetected in Asia, has been found in North Korea.
May 2005
The World Health Organization reports that the H5N1 bird flu cases in Vietnam in 2005 suggest the virus is mutating, making it more capable of being passed between humans.
China reports more than 1,000 migratory bird have died of bird flu.
Indonesia confirms reports of H5N1 infection in pigs.
May 19, 2005
The World Health Organization reports 97 cases and 53 deaths from bird flu in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand since Jan. 2004.
June 6, 2005
Indonesia confirms a man exposed to sick chickens has been infected with the H5N1 virus. The farm worker shows no symptoms, but his blood carries antibodies to the H5N1 strain.
The bird flu virus becomes resistant to the low-cost amantadine family of antiviral drugs. Chinese farmers' use of the compound in chickens is blamed, a claim formal denied by Chinese authorities who pledge to investigate.
July 2005
At the end of a three-day conference in Malaysia, WHO officials announce that $150 million is needed to fight the spread of bird flu among people and another $100 million to stop its spread among animals.
July 8, 2005
The Philippines reports its first case in a town north of the capital, Manila, but does not confirm it is the H5N1 strain.
July 20, 2005
Indonesia confirms its first human deaths from the H5N1 virus.
July 26, 2005
Japan says a fresh outbreak of bird flu has been discovered on a chicken farm. All outbreaks were confirmed to be caused by the weaker H5N2 strain.
Aug. 2005
Migratory bird carry the bird flu virus to Siberia.
Aug. 10, 2005
Bird flu is found in Tibet.
Aug. 15, 2005
Russia reports an outbreak of bird flu in the Urals region of Chelyabinsk.
Aug. 23, 2005
Kazakhstan reports an outbreak of the H5N1 virus in seven villages.
Sept. 1, 2005
Vietnam reports one new human death from bird flu, bringing its total to 44. Sixty-five people have died in Asia, including 12 in Thailand, five in Indonesia and four in Cambodia.
Oct. 5, 2005
U.S. researchers announce they have reconstructed the virus that caused the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. They confirm the virus was originally an avian influenza virus that jumped to people.
Oct. 8, 2005
Turkey reports its first cases of avian flu among birds, and Romania also reports suspted cases. Both countries begin slaughtering birds to preven spread of the disease.
Oct. 10, 2005
Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Switzerland announce a ban on poultry imports from Turky and Romania. The European Commission announces a ban on imports of live bird and feathers from Turkey.
Oct. 13, 2005
The European Union urges all member countries to prepare for a bird flu pandemic.
more than 3,600 wild bird are confirmed dead in Iran of an unknown cause.
Oct. 16, 2005
Three ducks found dead in Romania test positive for the deadly strain of bird flu.
Oct. 19, 2005
The deadly strain of bird flu kills 2,600 birds at a poultry farm in China. The outbreak has since been brought under control, officials say.
Russia detects the deadly strain in a region south of Moscow.
Oct. 20, 2005
A Thai boy tests positive for bird flu after his infected father dies from the virus. Doctors say there is no sign he caught the virus from his father.
Oct. 21, 2005
Croatia reports its first suspected case of bird flu in dead swans. Separately, Britain says a parrot in quarantine has died from bird flu.
Oct. 24, 2005
Britain confirms a parrot that died in quarantine was infected with the deadly strain of bird flu.
Sweden says one of four ducks found dead in an area west of Stockholm was infected with bird flu, but not the deadly H5N1 strain.
Russia confirms more cases of the deadly strain of bird flu. The latest case killed 12 hens in Tambov, 250 miles southeast of Moscow.
Oct. 25, 2005
China reports hundreds of farm geese have succumbed to a fresh outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus.
Britain says a second parrot in quarantine died from bird flu.
Oct. 26, 2005
Tests confirm dead swans found in Croatia had the deadly H5N1 strain.
Oct. 27, 2005
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche says it has temporarily suspended shipments of the antiviral drug Tamiflu in the United States to ensure that enough treatments are available for the regular influenza season.
In China, a 12-year-old girl who died in Hunan province with flu-like symptoms tested negative for bird flu.
Oct. 28, 2005
Three French tourists suspected of catching bird flu during a trip to Thailand test negative for the deadly H5N1 virus.
Oct. 31, 2005
Thailand reports a woman has been diagnosed with bird flu.
Canada detects bird flu in 33 wild migratory ducks.
Nov. 1, 2005
President Bush outlines a $7.1 billion strategy to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak.
Nov. 2, 2005
Sustained person-to-person spread of bird flu or any other super-influenza strain may prompt the U.S to implement travel restriction or other steps to block a pandemic, federal plans say.
Nov. 3, 2005
China reports its fourth bird flu outbreak in three weeks.
Nov. 6, 2005
Indonesia reports a 19-year-old woman has died of bird flu and an 8-year-old boy from her family was hospitalized with the virus.
China reports of three suspected human cases of bird flu.
Nov. 7, 2005
China says it has killed 6 million birds around its latest outbreak and ordered the closure of all live poultry markets in Beijing.
Nov. 8, 2005
Vietnam reports the death of a man from bird flu which, according to the World Health Organization, brings the human death toll throughout Asia to 64, comprising 42 in Vietnam, 13 in Thailand, five in Indonesia and four in Cambodia.
Nov. 9, 2005
Health experts unveil a $1 billion plan to halt the spread of bird flu.
Sources: CDC; WHO; Reuters; The Associated Press
© 2005 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9973251/ |
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