The Bird Flu Breakdown – A Timeline

Contrary to popular belief, the bird flu is not a new occurrence in humans. The bird flu has been around for centuries, and has been affecting humans for centuries. However, there has been a surge of bird flu occurrences in the past few years. The time line of the bird flu begins in 1918 with the Spanish flu pandemic. In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic emerged, which was caused by the H1N1 virus, which was an avian strain. This pandemic killed approximately 20 million to 50 million people worldwide, including 550,000 in the United States. The bird flu resurfaced nearly 40 years later in 1957. In this year a flu pandemic caused by the H2N2 virus killed 100,000 people.

A bird flu pandemic returned in 1968 with a pandemic caused by the H3N2 influenza virus. This flu pandemic killed 700,000 people. The H2N2 and H3N2 viruses, were likely to have arisen after an exchange of genes between avian and human flu viruses. A new bird flu virus surfaced in 1997, the virus was known as H5N1. The virus was first discovered in a human patient in Hong Kong. After the first occurrence, the virus infected 18 patients who had contact with poultry, which resulted in six deaths. However, this virus does not spread from human-to-human. After the small outbreak in Hong Kong, the entire chicken population was slaughtered to prevent further outbreaks. In 1998 the development of two new drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu is announced, which are used to target the flu virus.

In March 1999, two children in Hong Kong were diagnosed with avian influenza caused by the strain H9N2, which is a milder strain than H5N1. The two children recovered from their viruses, and no other cases of H9N2 were confirmed in Hong Kong. In January 2001 the World Health organization outlined a new global plan to improve the range, speed and quality of the flu virus surveillance. February 2003 saw the reappearance of the bird flu virus H5N1. On February 28, 2003, an outbreak of bird flu in the Netherlands killed a veterinarian, and infected more than 80 other people, which were mainly poultry workers and their families. These illnesses were caused by a strain of the avian influenza virus, known as H7N7, which causes eye infections and respiratory problems. In December 2003 another bird flu illness is reported; this bird flu infected a child in Hong Kong, and was caused by another strain, known as the H9N2. The child was hospitalized for the illness, but later recovered. Again in December 2003, an outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in South Korea.

In 2004, the World Health Organization confirmed 11 human cases of H5N1 in Thailand and Vietnam, which resulted in eight deaths. However, no person-to-person transmission cases were identified. Vietnam also announced that the H5N1 avian flu virus had spread to many of their poultry farms. Pakistan also confirmed an outbreak of this form of the bird flu, and Indonesia discovers an outbreak of bird flu among chickens. Later in 2004 the H5N1 virus was reported to have killed three more people in Vietnam. In November 2004, WHO warns the public that the H5N1 flu virus could spark a flu pandemic that would likely kill millions of people. In February 2005, thirteen more deadly bird flu cases occurred in Vietnam, and a report of likely person-to-person transmission is reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. Later in 2005, the European Union urges member countries to prepare for bird flu pandemic.

In November 2005, President Bush outlined a $7.1 billion strategy to prepare for possible bird flu pandemic. By the end of 2005 the death toll for the bird flu pandemic had reached 74 in Asia. By February 2006 the death toll had reached 88, with the last two deaths being reported in Indonesia. In March 2006 the UN stepped up its efforts to battle the spread of the bird flu after China reported its 10th death caused by the virus. In 2006 the bird flu had spread to many countries in Asia and Africa and Europe, including Cambodia, Egypt and Russia.