China reports first case of H3N8 bird flu in humans 0:48
(CNN) --
Avian influenza, also called avian flu, is a disease that generally affects only birds.
different strains
There are many different strains of bird flu: 16 H subtypes and 9 N subtypes. Only those labeled H5, H7, and H10 have caused deaths in humans.
The most common and deadly form of the virus is called "Influenza A (H5N1)" or "H5N1 virus".
Diagnosis of bird flu
Most cases of human avian influenza infections are due to contact with infected birds or surfaces that are contaminated with excretions from infected birds: saliva, nasal secretions, or feces.
Symptoms
Symptoms of bird flu include fever, cough, sore throat, and sometimes severe respiratory illness and pneumonia.
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Treatment
CDC recommends the following drugs for treatment: oral oseltamivir (brand name: Tamiflu), inhaled zanamivir (brand name: Relenza), and intravenous permavir (brand name: Rapivab) for the treatment of human illness associated with avian influenza.
The mortality rate is close to 60% for infected humans.
CDC confirms case of avian flu in Colorado man, but says public health risk assessment remains low
Bird flu makes eggs more expensive in the US 1:16
Chronology and development of avian flu events
Early 1900s
- Bird flu is first identified in Italy.
1961 -
The H5N1 strain is isolated from birds in South Africa.
December 1983 -
Chickens in Pennsylvania and Virginia are exposed to bird flu and more than five million birds are culled to stop the spread of the disease.
1997 -
Eighteen people are infected with the H5N1 strain in Hong Kong, six die.
These are the first documented cases of human infection.
Hong Kong culls its entire poultry population of 1.5 million birds.
1999
-
Two children in Hong Kong are infected with the H9N2 strain.
February 2003 -
84 people in the Netherlands are affected by the H7N7 strain of the virus, one dies.
February 7, 2004 -
12,000 chickens are culled in Kent County, Delaware after they are found to be infected with the H7 virus.
October 7, 2005 -
Bird flu reaches Europe.
Romanian authorities quarantine a village of about 30 people after three dead ducks tested positive for bird flu.
They investigate the first case of H10N3 bird flu in a human 0:38
November 12, 2005 -
A one-year-old boy in Thailand tests positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
November 16, 2005 -
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms two human cases of bird flu in China, including one in a poultry worker who died from the H5N1 strain.
November 17, 2005 -
Two deaths are confirmed in Indonesia from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
January 1, 2006 -
A Turkish teenager dies of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Istanbul, and later that week, two of his sisters die.
January 17, 2006 -
A 15-year-old girl from northern Iraq dies after contracting bird flu.
February 20, 2006 -
Vietnam becomes the first country to successfully contain the disease.
A country is considered disease-free when no new cases are reported for 21 days.
March 12, 2006
- Officials in Cameroon confirm cases of the H5N1 strain.
Bird flu has already reached four African countries.
March 13, 2006 -
Myanmar authorities confirm cases of bird flu.
May 11, 2006 -
Djibouti announces its first cases of H5N1: several birds and one human.
December 20, 2011 -
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) releases a statement saying the government is urging scientific journals to withhold details of research they intend to publish on the transfer of H5N1 among mammals.
There is concern that the information could be misused by terrorists.
July 31, 2012 -
Scientists announce that a new strain of bird flu, H3N8, killed more than 160 baby seals in New England in 2011.
March 31, 2013 -
Chinese authorities report the first human cases of H7N9 flu infection to the WHO.
The H7N9 strain has not previously been detected in humans.
December 6, 2013 -
A 73-year-old woman infected with H10N8 in China dies.
It is the first human death from this strain.
H5N8 flu: what it is, how it spreads and how to prevent it 1:13
January 8, 2014 -
Canadian health officials confirm that an Alberta resident has died from H5N1 bird flu, the first case of the virus in North America.
It is also the first case of imported H5N1 infection by a traveler to a country where the virus is not present in poultry.
April 20, 2015 -
Officials say more than five million chickens will be euthanized after avian flu was detected at a commercial laying facility in northwest Iowa. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, since December They have detected nearly eight million cases of bird flu in 13 states.
Health officials say there is little or no risk of transmission to humans from H5N2.
Human infections with the virus have never been detected.
January 15, 2016 -
The US Department of Agriculture confirms that a commercial turkey farm in Dubois County, Indiana has tested positive for the H7N8 strain of avian flu.
24 January 2017 -
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs releases a statement confirming that a case of H5N8 avian influenza has been detected in a flock of farmed breeding pheasants in Preston, UK.
The flock is estimated to contain around 10,000 birds.
The statement adds that several of those birds have died, and the remaining live birds at the facility are being euthanized "humanely" due to the disease.
February 12, 2017 -
Several provinces in China closed their live bird markets to prevent the spread of bird flu after a spike in the number of H7N9 infections.
At least six provinces have reported human cases of H7N9 influenza this year, according to Chinese state media Xinhua.
March 5-7, 2017 -
The USDA confirms that a commercial chicken farm in Tennessee has tested positive for the H7N9 strain of bird flu, but says it is genetically different from the H7N9 lineage from China.
The flock of 73,500 birds in Lincoln County will be euthanized, according to Tyson Foods.
February 14, 2018 -
The Hong Kong Center for Health Protection announces that a 68-year-old woman has been treated for the H7N4 strain.
This is the first case of this strain in a human.
June 5, 2019 -
Since 2013, there have been 1,568 confirmed human cases and 616 deaths worldwide from the H7N9 strain of bird flu, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
December 2019 -
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirms that a case of H5N1 bird flu has been detected on a poultry farm in Suffolk.
27,000 birds are humanely euthanized due to the disease.
April 9, 2020 -
The USDA confirms that a commercial turkey flock in Chesterfield County, South Carolina has tested positive for the H7N3 strain of avian influenza.
January 2021 -
India culls tens of thousands of poultry after bird flu was detected in wild ducks, crows and geese in at least a dozen locations across the country.
February 18, 2021 -
Russian authorities notify the WHO that they have detected H5N8 in humans.
"If confirmed, this would be the first time H5N8 has infected people," a WHO Europe spokesman said in a statement.
June 1, 2021 -
China's National Health Commission announces the first human case of H10N3.
February 2022 -
The USDA confirms that wild birds and domestic poultry in the United States have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.
As of mid-April, the CDC reports that there are 31 states with infected wild birds and 25 states with outbreaks in poultry.
April 26, 2022 -
China's National Health Commission announces the first human case of H3N8.
April 28, 2022 -
CDC confirms a case of bird flu in a man in Colorado, but says public health risk assessment remains low
bird flu