1878 -- “Fowl plague” first identified in Italy; now called HPAI avian influenza

1918-1919 -- "Spanish flu" caused by an H1N1 flu virus, it is the worst influenza epidemic to date. There are more than half a million U.S. deaths; worldwide death estimates range from 20 million to 100 million. with very high death rates among young, previously healthy adults.

1924 -- First outbreak of HPAI avian influenza — bird flu — in the U.S; it does not spread among humans

1957-1958 -- "Asian flu" causes the second pandemic of the 20th century; caused by an H2N2 virus, it begins in China and kills 1 million people worldwide, including 70,000 Americans

1968-1969 -- "Hong Kong" flu causes the last flu pandemic; caused by an H3N2 virus and killed some 34,000 Americans

Mid-1970s -- Researchers realize that enormous pools of influenza virus continuously circulate in wild birds.

1976 -- Swine flu breaks out among a handful of soldiers stationed at Fort Dix, N.J. One dies - it's an H1N1 virus.

1981--Terminology “highly pathogenic avian influenza” was officially adopted at the First International Symposium on Avian Influenza to designate the highly virulent forms of avian influenza

1983 -- Second HPAI outbreak in the U.S; caused by an H5N2 virus, it does not spread among humans - strikes chickens, turkeys, and guinea fowl in Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is finally brought under control after the destruction of 17 million birds.

1996 -- Highly pathogenic form of HPAI H5N1 bird flu is isolated from a farmed goose in Guangdong, China

1997 --First major outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza occurs in Hong Kong in both poultry and humans

• May -- first person known to catch H5N1 bird flu dies in Hong Kong
• November-December 1997 -- 18 people were hospitalized, six of them died --of the eighteen 12 had been in direct contact with infected poultry ---first time transmission directly from birds to humans had been found --1.5 million birds were destroyed in an attempt to control the spread of the virus

1998 -- Positive trial results are announced for two new drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu, that target the influenza virus. 1999 -- H5N2 (low pathogenic virus) infects several humans in China -- resulted in uncomplicated influenza-like illnesses -- evidence that poultry was the source of infection

2002 -- H7N2 was detected in the poultry of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia -- one person had serologic evidence of infection

2003 -- H5N1 infected two members of a Hong Kong family that traveled to China -- one of them died and one survived -- anther family member in China died of a respiratory illness - cause was never determined -- H9N2 (low pathogenic virus) infected child in Hong Kong --hospitalized and recovered

• April -- Netherlands reports H7N7 bird flu -- affects poultry, pigs, and humans --89 cases reported in humans-- only three possible human-to-human transmissions --only one death occurred (a veterinarian)

• November -- H7N2 infected one person in New York -- patient had respiratory symptoms and recovered after a few weeks

• December -- Tigers and leopards in a Thailand zoo die of H5N1 bird flu after eating fresh chickens -- first time bird flu has been seen in large felines

2004 -- Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and parts of Northeast North America confirm presence of the virus

• January -- A new H5N1 outbreak occurs in the poultry industries of Vietnam and Thailand. Within weeks, it spreads to ten countries in Asia -- Thailand reports human H5N1 bird flu infections.

• January 11 -- Humans in Vietnam come down with H5N1 bird flu caught from poultry -- high death rate among infected people, but the disease does not spread from person to person.

• February -- flock of chickens in Texas comes down with an H5N2 virus --a quick response by state and federal officials keeps the virus from spreading beyond this one small flock -- no human cases; H7N3 (highly pathogenic virus) infected poultry workers in February in Canada after an outbreak among poultry -- consisted of mild illnesses such as eye infections; the total of culled birds, as a result of the ongoing outbreak in Asia, has reached 45 million

• February 1-- Vietnam investigates a family cluster of H5N1 cases --person-to-person spread cannot be ruled out, but the virus is not spreading among humans

• February 20 -- Thailand reports H5N1 infection of domestic cats in a single household

• March -- the outbreak is contained

• July -- New outbreaks in poultry are confirmed in the Ayutthaya and Pathumthani provinces of Thailand as well as Chaohu city in Anhui, China

• August -- H5N1 is confirmed in two chickens in Kampung Pasir, Kelantan, Malaysia -- Singapore imposes a ban on the importation of chickens and poultry products -- EU imposes a ban on Malaysian poultry products -- Malaysian government culls all poultry within a 10km radius of the outbreak

2005 -- Russia, Siberia, Tibet, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Romania, Sweden, Kuwait, Ukraine, Croatia, Britain, North Korea, Philippines and Canada confirm presence of the virus

• January -- H5N1 is in 33 out of 64 cities and provinces in Vietnam --leads to the elimination of nearly 1.2 million poultry

• July 21 -- 109 cases of human infection have been confirmed -- 55 deaths have occurred outside of China --thirteen countries across Asia and Europe have been affected -- more than 120 million birds have died from infection or have been exterminated

• October 7 -- Swiss drug maker Roche urges consumers not to buy its flu drug Tamiflu over the Internet due to the risk of counterfeit pills

• October 17 -- Greece confirms its first case of bird flu -- first country in the European Union to report infection

• October 18 -- Roche considers granting other companies licenses to make the anti-viral drug Tamiflu

• November 1 -- WHO's official count of human cases of H5N1 reaches 122 -- with 62 deaths in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia

• November 3 -- U.S. envoy urges caution in banning foreign poulty imports -- could discourage countries from reporting bird flu

2006 -- France, Germany, India, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Egypt, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Iran, Austria, Turkey, and Hungary report cases of Avian flu since February -- as of March 10, 176 cases, 97 deaths

• January 7-- lab test confirms deadly H5N1 bird flu was responsible for death of two teenagers in Turkey -- first time that the strain has killed outside East Asia

• January 10 -- two more Chinese have died of bird flu -- total number of humans killed by the disease on the mainland is five -- 15 people in Turkey have been infected with H5N1

• January 18 -- International donors pledge $1.9 billion to combat the spread of bird flu at a conference in Beijing

• January 30 -- Iraqi and U.N. health officials confirm first case of the disease in the Middle East

• February 6 -- Overall toll reaches 88 -- comprised of the four in Turkey, 16 in Indonesia, seven in China, four in Cambodia, 14 in Thailand, 42 in Vietnam and 1 in Iraq

• February 8 -- World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) confirms an outbreak of bird flu in northern Nigeria is a highly pathogenic form of the H5N1 virus --H5N1 had not previously been detected in Africa, though other bird flu strains have

• February 13 -- WHO confirms two bird flu deaths in Indonesia and one in China -- takes the overall toll to 91

• February 14 -- Iran and Austria report cases of the H5N1 in birds

• February 15 -- Germany confirms H5N1 in two dead swans found on the Baltic island of Ruegen

• February 17 -- Egypt reports cases of H5N1 in seven chickens

• Febraury 18 -- India and France announce their first cases of H5N1

• February 20 --Overall toll is 92 -- comprised of the four in Turkey, 19 in Indonesia, eight in China, four in Cambodia, 14 in Thailand, 42 in Vietnam and one in Iraq

• February 21 -- Virus confirmed in Hungary and Croatia -- EU considers vaccinating millions of birds in France

• February 26 -- EU officials confirm H5N1 11,000 turkeys in southeastern France -- Japan and Hong Kong suspend imports of French poultry -- India has two poultry farms contaminated by its second known outbreak

• February 28 -- H5N1 strain is confirmed in a cat in northern Germany -- first time the virus has been identified in a mammal in the EU

• March 10 -- Russia starts mass vaccination of domestic fowl in its southern region

• March 15 -- human death toll reaches 100

• March 16 -- Dutch officials to launch vaccination campaign of The Netherlands' 1-3 million backyard poultry and about 5 million free-range poultry -- Afghanistan, Myanmar and Denmark confirm their first cases of H5N1 in birds

• March 17 -- Israel announces its first cases of H5N1 in birds

• March 24 -- Jordan confirms H5N1

• April 4 -- Burkina Faso becomes fifth African nation to report the disease after Nigeria, Niger, Egypt and Cameroon

• April 6 -- death of a boy in Cambodia from bird flu -- Britain confirms H5N1 in a Mute swan in Scotland

• April 11 --girl in Azerbaijan infected with bird flu

• April 19 -- death from bird flu in Tangerang, Indonesia

• April 21 -- fourth person dead from bird flu in Egypt -- China reports man's death from the virus