May 2008:

South Korean officials kill all poultry - 15,000 chickens, ducks, pheasants and turkeys - in the capital city of Seoul to curb the spread of avian flu following a new outbreak of the disease.

April 2008:

An outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in Gimje, South Korea, 257 kilometres south of Seoul, prompts the slaughter of 308,000 chickens. Seven outbreaks of the deadly virus occurred in poultry farms across South Korea between November 2006 and March 2007, resulting in the slaughter of about 2.8 million birds.

Chinese doctors report a human-to-human transmission of H5N1. A 52-year-old man from Jiangsu province fell ill with H5N1 avian flu after helping care for his son, 24. The younger man died from his infection Dec. 2, 2007 but the father recovered.

January 2008:

A nine-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman die in Indonesia from H5N1 avian flu, raising the country's human death toll to 100. Nearly half of the fatalities from this strain of avian flu are from Indonesia.

September 2007:

Officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirms avian influenza is at a large chicken farm near Regina.

The H7N3 strain of the virus found at Pedigree Poultry at Regina Beach is fatal to birds, but is not dangerous to humans, the agency says. All 50,000 birds at the farm will be destroyed with carbon dioxide gas over the next few days.

CFIA veterinary specialist Sandra Stephens says although the farm produced eggs to be hatched at another facility, the virus cannot be spread through eggs.

June 2006:

Dr. Lamont Sweet, P.E.I.'s chief health officer, says in a news release June 16 that a case of H5 avian flu has been found in a gosling on P.E.I., as confirmed by the Atlantic Veterinary College. The sick gosling was from a flock of 20 geese and ducks kept in the backyard of a private home in O'Leary, which was quarantined. A farm was also quarantined as a precaution, after officials discovered people and poultry moved between the farm and the home.

On June 20, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says that no trace of avian flu has been found in the gosling after it was tested in their lab in Winnipeg. A representative said the different result could be due to very low quantities of the virus in the sample, or the virus may have died or degraded during transport.

Officials collect chickens for culling to fight an outbreak of avian flu in Kiziksa village, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 11. (AP Photo/Anatolia/Emre Umurbilir)

May 2006:

Wildlife experts are surprised to discover that migratory birds returning from Africa to Europe are not infected with the fatal H5N1 strain of avian flu. Thousands of these birds were tested for avian flu and none of them had any trace of the infection, according to scientists and health officials from the United Nations and from environmental group Wetlands International.

This turn of events is contrary to their earlier predictions that the virus would spread to Africa during the southward migration and come back to Europe with multiplied force in the spring, as the birds fly back. They are at a loss to explain why this has not occurred.

The number of new cases in Europe during the peak of migration was drastically lower than the previous two months. Health officials now say there is little probability that migratory birds will carry the virus to North America.

The Netherlands and Switzerland repealed laws that required poultry to be confined indoors. Austria followed suit, and France is expected to do the same.

International scientists report a drastic drop in the rate at which the bird flu virus is spreading. In February, avian flu was diagnosed for the first time in 17 new countries. In March only five new countries where found with the virus. By mid-May, only one new country had discovered the virus within its borders.

In Indonesia, a cluster of six bird flu deaths raises concerns after WHO says it's possible that the cluster resulted from humans spreading the virus to each other. "Although human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out, the search for a possible alternative source of exposure is continuing," says WHO in a statement.

April 2006:

Egypt's health minister confirms two deaths from avian flu. Two other people in Egypt also contract the virus.

Burkina Faso is the fifth African nation to confirm bird flu. The World Health Organization confirms the presence of H5N1 in Kadiogo province, where 123 guinea fowl were found dead.

The first case of avian flu in the United Kingdom is diagnosed. A dead swan found on a shore in Eastern Scotland is confirmed to have the infection.

Germany confirms the presence of H5N1 on a poultry farm in Saxony. It is the first instance of the virus in domestic birds in Germany.

March 2006:

American researchers say the deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has split into two distinct strains, a development that could make it harder to develop vaccines to stop the spread of the disease.

Chinese health officials confirm that a 32-year-old man in southern Guangdong province died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on March 2. It's believed the man became infected after making several visits to an agricultural market where chickens were slaughtered. Eight people have died from bird flu in mainland China since October 2005.

Dr. Margaret Chan, an official with the World Health Organization, says H5N1 surpasses AIDS in terms of the challenge it poses to worldwide health systems.

Poland confirms that two wild swans found dead about 200 kilometres north of Warsaw were infected with H5N1.

In Austria, an agriculture official in Styria state says several cats had tested positive for the virus.

State media in China says a nine-year-old girl died of bird flu in the eastern province of Zhejiang. It is China's 10th recorded death from avian flu.

A Belgian news agency reports that a Belgian man who returned from China has been admitted to hospital with the symptoms of bird flu. The country's health agency says it is a possible case of bird flu rather than a probable one.

Cameroon becomes the fourth African country to confirm the presence of H5N1 after the virus is found in a duck farm near the border with Nigeria.

Hundreds of cases of H5N1 bird flu are confirmed at a farm in Mandalay, Myanmar. The country shares borders with China and Thailand.

The World Health Organization says a 12-year-old girl died in of H5N1 bird flu in Central Java, Indonesia. The death raises the toll in Indonesia to 22. Malaysia announces first outbreak of avian flu since late 2004.

Tests confirm the presence of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in samples taken from birds found in Kabul and in Jalalabad.

Two wild birds in southeastern Sweden also test positive for H5N1 avian flu.

Seven people in Azerbaijan are diagnosed with H5N1 on March 21. Five of those seven people died, raising the number of humans killed by avian flu to 103. Six of the Azerbaijan cases are from the southeastern part of the country. According to WHO, the possible source infection might be the carcasses of dead swans found in the region. Residents use the dead birds as a source of feathers.

A one-year-old girl in Indonesia dies from bird flu. The country has more human deaths from bird flu than any other.

Scientists report that an experimental vaccine works only at a dosage 12 times higher than a typical flu shot.

Cambodia confirms its first human case since April 2005.

February 2006:

Avian flu reaches Africa, with outbreaks at chicken farms in three northern Nigerian states. Nigerian Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello blames illegal poultry imports. WHO announces it is sending a team of experts to Nigeria to try to prevent human cases.

The H5N1 strain of avian flu is found on the Caspian Sea coast of Azerbaijan. The country shares a short border with Turkey, where four people have died from the disease.

By mid-month, France, India, Iran, Germany and Egypt all report their first cases of bird flu. In western India, farm workers and health officials slaughter hundreds of thousands of chickens and spray farms with disinfectant. In Italy, the Health Ministry says a wild duck and six wild swans had tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus, bringing the country's total cases to 16.

In further efforts to contain the disease in India, health authorities also quarantine nearly a dozen people with flu-like symptoms in hospital. Most test negative for the virus, but some samples are sent for further testing.

As the virus continues to spread in poultry in Nigeria, ministers and experts from across West Africa meet to draft a plan to detect, fight and contain the virus. But, UN officials worry it could still cause a regional disaster. Experts fear that in Africa, where chickens live in millions of homes, the virus could spread rapidly and largely undetected due to a scarcity of health, veterinary and laboratory services.

UN officials say Afghanistan will inevitably be hit by an outbreak of bird flu and little has been done by either the local government or donor countries to prevent spread of the disease. The migrating birds that can carry the disease are arriving in Afghanistan.

Holland, Hong Kong and Japan all ban French poultry imports after the virus is found at a turkey farm.

January 2006:

Bird flu spreads west. Turkey reports its first cases of avian flu in humans. Three children in one family die from the illness in the eastern part of the country. They are the first reported human cases – and the first deaths – from bird flu outside of Southeast Asia and China. They had been exposed to dying poultry.

By the middle of the month, avian flu claimed a fourth life in Turkey and health officials had reported confirmed or suspected cases of the H5N1 strain in the virus in 26 of the country's 81 provinces. Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker accused several neighbouring countries of concealing bird flu outbreaks – hampering Turkey's efforts to control the disease. He did not name the countries.

In Indonesia, a toddler and his 13-year-old sister were listed as that country's latest bird flu deaths. The toddler's death was reported a day after wealthy nations meeting at a conference in Beijing, pledged almost $2 billion to fight bird flu.

As that conference unfolded, China reported its sixth bird flu death, bringing to 80 the total number of deaths since 2003.

An Iraqi official confirms that a girl who died Jan. 17 in Raniya, less than 100 kilometres south of Iraq's border with Turkey, was killed by the H5N1 strain of bird flu. It is the first confirmed bird-flu death in the country. The girl's uncle also died with similar symptoms. Officials begin culling birds in Raniya and two neighbouring communities.

December 2005:

China records its third human death from bird flu. The victim was a 41-year-old woman from the eastern Fujian province who died on Dec. 21. It brings the total number of bird-flu deaths since late 2003 to 74 – all of them in Asia.

Researchers reported that two patients in Vietnam died from avian flu despite being treated with Tamiflu because the virus had mutated in a way that enabled it to resist the drug. That was a major cause for concern because Tamiflu is the drug that many governments have been rushing to stockpile in case the H5N1 virus gains the ability to jump easily from person to person.

China confirms two more cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. A 10-year-old girl in southern China had been in hospital since Nov. 23, but was responding to treatment. In northeast China, a 31-year-old poultry worker tested positive for the virus. She recovered and was released from hospital in late November.

Myanmar's secretive military government promised to let the world know if bird flu spread to that country. The virus has been found in neighbouring China, Thailand and Laos – but Myanmar's agriculture minister says, so far, his country has been free of it.

In Ukraine, officials said tests have confirmed that avian flu was detected in villages on the Crimean peninsula where 2,500 birds died suddenly in early December. The strain matched the one that had been found in neighbouring Romania and Russia. The government declared a state of emergency and seized tens of thousands of birds during house-to-house checks in villages that were sealed off in an exclusion zone.

A five-year-old boy in Thailand becomes the 70th Asian to die from the H5N1 virus. Thai officials said the boy did not have direct contact with chickens - the presumed source of infection - although he did have indirect contact. Chickens were raised in the neighbourhood where he lived.

November 2005:

A strain of bird flu is discovered on a poultry farm in Fraser Valley, B.C. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is not the same type that has been blamed for killing at least 65 people in Asia since 2003.

The H5 virus is found in one commercial duck on a Chilliwack, B.C., farm. The CFIA says there is no immediate risk to domestic birds, but there are concerns the virus could mutate. The agency orders a cull of all 55,000 ducks and 800 geese on the farm.

B.C.'s chief veterinarian says 14 wild birds have tested positive for an H5 strain of avian flu, but says it's unlikely to be the deadly H5N1 strain.

A major outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu prompts China to destroy about 370,000 birds in the northeast province of Liaoning.

Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the U.S. ban all B.C poultry in response to the discovery at the Fraser Valley Farm. The U.S. says its restriction is temporary until officials fully investigate a five-kilometre area around the farm. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan may agree to limit their ban to the five-kilometre area, allowing for imports from the rest of the province.

Vietnamese authorities carry out a cull of more than 3,000 birds in three communities in Bac Giang province, near Hanoi, and place those communities under quarantine.

Chinese officials say they will vaccinate the country's entire stock of 14 billion poultry against avian flu.

China confirms three human cases of bird flu. A 24-year-old poultry worker and a 12-year old, both female, die from the virus. A nine-year-old boy, who is the younger victim’s brother, also contracted the virus but recovered.

Indonesia’s health ministry confirms that a 25-year-old woman died of the avian influenza virus on Nov. 29. The woman was treated at Jakarta’s main hospital for bird flu patients. She’s the eighth Indonesian to die of the disease.

But the health ministry says it can’t confirm whether two brothers who died earlier this month were also avian influenza victims. They died days before their 16-year-old brother was admitted to hospital infected with the bird flu virus. The cause of death for the brothers who died was listed as typhoid - but they were never tested for the bird flu virus.

October 2005:

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) confirms cases of the avian influenza virus H5N1 in turkeys in Kiziksa, Balikesi, in Turkey. Officials say the virus is similar to one of the viruses isolated in Siberia. It is a strain of avian flu that scientists believe could mutate into a human virus.

EU experts on avian influenza and bird migration hold an emergency meeting in Brussels, after health officials confirm the deadly H5N1 virus has spread from Asia to Europe. Cases of bird flu in poultry are reported in Romania and Greece.

Even as the disease spreads westward, a fresh outbreak in Inner Mongolia, China, kills about 2,600 birds.

A pet parrot in quarantine in the U.K. dies from avian flu strain H5N1.

On Oct. 31, 2005, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announces that several wild birds in Quebec and Manitoba were found to be carrying bird flu viruses, although the evidence suggests none of them is infected with H5N1.

According to the World Health Organization, 62 people in Asia have died of bird flu so far.

September 2005:

The World Health Organization (WHO) investigates a cluster of three deaths in one family. One case of H5N1 is confirmed in the 38-year-old father but test results for his two daughters do not meet the criteria for acute H5N1 infections. WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases. Officials are unable to determine the source of the exposure.

The OIE finds that the H5N1 virus has expanded to Russia and Kazakhstan. Both countries report outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry in late July, and confirm H5N1 as the causative agent in early August. Deaths in migratory birds have also been reported.

The OIE attributes the outbreak in both countries to contact between domestic birds and wild waterfowl that share water sources. Both countries were previously considered free of the virus, but now have outbreaks in large farms as well as small groups, resulting in almost 120,000 birds dead or destroyed in Russia and more than 9,000 affected in Kazakhstan.

August 2005:

The Unites States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announces results from initial clinical trials of a vaccine to protect humans against the avian flu. The vaccine is specific to the H5N1 strain, and evoked an immune response in a small group of healthy adults.

WHO considers the H5N1 virus the most likely to ignite the next pandemic. It says the increase in H5N1 viruses in Asia has brought the world closer to another pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century’s three pandemics began.

Mongolia reports the death of 89 migratory birds at two lakes in the northern part of the country. The cause is identified as avian influenza virus type A, but the virus strain has not yet been determined. Mongolian officials share their findings with WHO reference laboratories. An outbreak of H5N1 in poultry is also detected in Tibet.

Bird flu outbreak in China. (AP file photo)

June 2005:

WHO sends a team of international experts to Vietnam to assess laboratory and epidemiological data on recent cases and determine whether the present level of pandemic alert should be increased. The team is made up of delegates from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The group conducts a series of tests and finds no laboratory evidence suggesting that human infections are occurring with greater frequency or that the virus is spreading readily among humans.

The current level of pandemic alert, which has been in effect since January 2004, remains unchanged. So far, the death toll of the avian flu has reached 54 people, including four cases in Cambodia.

March 2005:

North Korea reports its first outbreak of avian influenza in poultry. Authorities initiate a mass culling in an effort to prevent further spread. No human cases have been reported.

February 2005:

Cambodia reports its first human case of avian flu and steps up surveillance to monitor the outbreak. Cambodian officials travel from village to village in Kampot province warning of the dangers of infected poultry. A local radio station makes hourly broadcasts on the need to take precautions.

October 2004:

WHO warns countries experiencing outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry to be aware that domestic ducks may have acquired an important role in the transmission of the pathogen to other poultry and, possibly, to humans as well.

A WHO laboratory study shows that ducks may carry the H5N1 virus, and more importantly, ducks that carry the virus look healthy and do not show avian flu symptoms for several days. This is very different from chickens that look visibly afflicted in the early stages of infection. WHO warns countries to look out for ducks acting as silent reservoirs of the H5N1 virus.

September 2004:

Health officials say they have documented the first human-to-human transmission of the avian flu virus. Officials in Thailand say Pranee Thongchan, 26, was in the hospital when she was caring for her daughter. Officials believe the 11-year-old died of avian flu, but her body was cremated before tests could be done. The Thai Public Health Ministry says there is no evidence the virus has mutated, and the transmission was limited within a family.

Malaysia announces a new outbreak of avian flu that has killed 10 chickens and 20 quails in a village near the site of the last outbreak in August. By the end of September, the avian flu has claimed 30 lives.

Bird flu vaccine.

August 2004:

South Africa begins to cull ostriches to try to stop the spread of a bird flu outbreak. A Chinese health official says the deadly H5N1strain of avian flu has been found among pigs at several farms. The transmission of the virus to pigs could bring the virus closer to a form that can pass from person to person. WHO has not verified the claim, but says outbreaks in chickens in Thailand and Malaysia are more of a worry.

Malaysia reports its first case of avian flu in two dead fighting cocks that had just returned from a bout in southern Thailand. Chickens, quails and pet birds in the area would later be slaughtered.

Ottawa says the avian flu virus has been eradicated from B.C.'s Fraser Valley and lifts all remaining restrictions on the movement of birds.

July 2004:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says all poultry farms in the avian flu "hot zone" around Abbotsford, B.C., can restock their flocks, 21 days after the last infected farm was cleaned and disinfected.

China confirms new cases of bird flu in dead chickens discovered in Anhui province on July 3. Thailand's deputy agriculture minister says thousands of chickens have died in the central province of Ayutthaya, and "it is possible that the outbreak will return." By the end of August, the avian flu has claimed 28 lives.

May 2004:

The CFIA says the new avian flu virus found in the Fraser Valley is not the same type that killed people in Asia. Evidence suggests the geese there were exposed to an H6-type virus, which is not associated with serious illness in animals or humans.

A new strain of avian flu, one never before seen in the Fraser Valley, is discovered in geese and ducks at a farm in Abbotsford, B.C. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says the strain is different from the H7 virus previously found and says it can't rule out the possibility that it is the H5 virus responsible for deaths in Asia. A school across the street from the farm is shut down.

April 2004:

The CFIA announces that two more farms in the Fraser Valley are infected with avian flu, bringing the total to 22. Both farms are near the high-risk zone for the disease. Federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller orders the slaughter of 19 million chickens, turkeys and ducks in B.C. in an effort to stop the spread of avian flu.

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman enacts the Emergency Program Act, which will allow infected birds killed in the cull to be disposed of. Nearly 200 workers in B.C. poultry processing plants are laid off as a result of the outbreak. Possibly worsening the situation are tests that confirm the virus has spread beyond the five km "hot zone." But, the most recent infection is still located inside a wider control area being watched for signs of the disease.

Prisoners in B.C. begin training in handling poultry that may have been infected with avian flu. The prisoners would be used as backups for the bird cull in case of a shortage of workers. By month's end, the CFIA lifts the ban on the movement of fresh and frozen poultry products from southern B.C. after birds in the highest-risk areas are slaughtered.

March 2004:

A second, more intense form of avian influenza is found on a B.C. chicken farm. A government spokesperson says there is no increased risk to human health, but the stronger form could be more dangerous to birds.

Japan lifts a ban on Canadian chicken from outside B.C. prior to this announcement, but reinstates it shortly after. The European Commission bans imports of Canadian poultry, poultry meat and eggs.

Massive cull at a B.C. poultry farm when the first strain of avian flu surfaced. (Canadian Press)

The CFIA orders the slaughter of all chickens within a high-risk region in B.C., in order to contain the spread of avian flu. When completed, the cull totals 365,000 birds, about 10 per cent of B.C.'s poultry population.

China declares itself free of human cases after no new cases are reported for 29 days. By the end of March, a total of 23 people from Thailand and Vietnam die from avian flu.

February 2004:

Officials in Delaware order the slaughter of 72,000 chickens and the quarantine of 80 farms after a flock tests positive for a mild form of avian flu.

Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea ban the import of chickens from the United States. Hong Kong, Ukraine, China, Russia and Poland also announce full or partial bans of American chicken imports. By late February, Texas becomes the fourth U.S. state to discover a case of the bird flu, after Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

South Korea, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong announce temporary bans on Canadian poultry after a mild case of bird flu is found on a B.C. farm. Five workers at the B.C. farm become slightly ill, although it's not clear whether they have contracted the disease.

Japan report three cases of avian flu in poultry, including a group of pet chickens. By the end of February, the avian flu kills seven people in Thailand and 15 in Vietnam.

January 2004:

WHO says avian flu could develop into a more serious disease that is more infectious than SARS. They advise countries to consider stockpiling antiviral drugs in case of a pandemic.

Asian countries hold an emergency strategy meeting in Bangkok. The United States advises doctors to watch for possible cases from abroad. The United Nations sends help to Thailand. Laos, Indonesia and Pakistan begin to slaughter their poultry and China culls ducks in the southern province of Guangxi after a confirmed case.

According to WHO, there are 11 cases and eight deaths in Thailand and Vietnam, including two sisters and a six-year-old boy.

December 2003:

South Korea confirms an outbreak of avian flu and begins mass cull.

November 2003:

Thailand reports an outbreak of fowl cholera.

April 2003:

A new strain of bird flu (H7N7) infects more than 80 people in the Netherlands, killing one of them.

February 2003:

A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong dies after contracting bird flu.

May 2001:

Hong Kong authorities order the slaughter of more than a million chickens, quails, pigeons and ducks to try to stop the spread of the disease. It spreads to nearby Macau.

1999:

Two more human cases of bird flu are confirmed in Hong Kong.

1997:

First fatal human cases of avian flu. The disease kills six people in Hong Kong. More than 1.4 million chickens are slaughtered to stop the spread.

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