How bird flu spread from Asia to Europe<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Paris<\/p>\n
The discovery of avian influenza in Greece has put the European
\nUnion on red alert, with scientists concerned that it could be
\ndue to the deadly Asian strain, H5N1, which has killed more than
\n60 people over the past two years.<\/p>\n
They fear that the strain could combine with human flu
\nvariants to create a catastrophic pandemic, or mass epidemic,
\nacross Europe.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a bird thought to have died of the disease in the
\nformer Yugoslav republic of Macedonia was to be flown to Britain
\nfor further testing, health authorities said on Tuesday, amid
\nfears that H5N1 had spread from nearby Turkey and Romania.<\/p>\n
The following is a timeline of how bird flu took hold in Asia
\nbefore emerging in Europe:<\/p>\n
* May 1997: a three-year-old boy becomes the first of six people
\nto die in Hong Kong of a mysterious virus, later identified as
\nH5N1, the first known human deaths from the strain.
\n* Dec. 2003: South Korea confirms an outbreak of the virus and
\nslaughters more than 2.5 million chickens and ducks in a bid to
\nhalt the outbreak. A different strain, H7N7, is said to be
\nresponsible for the death of a veterinarian in the Netherlands,
\nwho visited an infected farm.
\n* Jan. 2004: Vietnam says the suspected number of human deaths
\nhas risen to 13 as Taiwan announces an outbreak of different
\nstrain of bird flu. Outbreaks are reported in Laos, Cambodia,
\nIndonesia, Japan, China, Pakistan and Thailand.
\n* Feb. 2004: first cases confirmed in the United States and
\nCanada while in Thailand the virus is detected in a panther, a
\ntiger and domestic cats.
\n* Aug. 2004: Three new deaths confirmed in Vietnam and an
\noutbreak reported in Malaysia.
\n* Jan. 2005: First fatal human case reported in Cambodia. Three
\nmore will follow.
\n* March 2005: North Korea officially announces it is affected by
\nthe disease.
\n* July 2005: First of three fatalities announced in Indonesia.
\n* Aug. 2005: Confirmation that the disease has spread to
\nKazakhstan, Mongolia and the vast Russian region of Siberia.
\n* Oct. 7, 2005: Ducks in the Danube delta in Romania are reported
\nto be infected. The virus is confirmed as H5N1 eight days later.
\n* Oct. 13, 2005: The infection which has killed thousands of
\nturkeys in north-western Turkey is confirmed as H5N1.
\n* Oct. 17: Discovery of the first case in Greece, on the island
\nof Oinousses, close to the Turkish coast.<\/p>",
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