News - CHRONOLOGY-Bird flu developments

Indonesia has confirmed two more human deaths from bird flu, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, taking the global death toll from the disease to 73, all in Asia.

Here is a chronology of major bird flu developments:

Dec 15, 2003 - South Korea confirms a highly contagious type of bird flu at a chicken farm near Seoul and begins a mass cull of poultry when the virus rapidly spreads across the country.

Jan 8, 2004 - Vietnam says bird flu found on poultry farms.

Sept 27 - Thailand says it has found a case where one human probably infected another with bird flu. It said this was an isolated incident posing little risk to the population.

Oct 10, 2005 - The European Commission announces a ban on imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey to the 25-nation EU. This was in response to Turkey reporting its first case of bird flu two days earlier. It was later confirmed as the type dangerous to humans, the H5N1 strain.

Oct 15 - British tests identify H5N1 in three ducks found dead in Ceamurlia de Jos in Romania, the first case in mainland Europe of H5N1.

Nov 9 - Three days of talks among health experts in Geneva agree a billion dollar strategy to minimise the virus threat at source in animals and humans.

Nov 11 - Kuwait reports the first known case of deadly bird flu in the Gulf Arab region, saying a culled flamingo was carrying the deadly strain of the H5N1 virus.

Nov 15 - Britain says 53 finch-like mesias imported from Taiwan died last month in a British quarantine center where they were believed to have introduced the H5N1 virus. In October, Britain had said a parrot imported from Suriname had been found to have the virus and a mesia may have caught it.

Dec 3 - Ukraine introduces tough steps to combat its first outbreak of bird flu, sending troops to patrol exclusion zones in the Crimea peninsula where the virus was detected.

Dec 23 - Indonesia confirms two further deaths from bird flu. That brings the death toll in Asia to 73, comprising 14 victims in Thailand, four in Cambodia, 11 in Indonesia, 42 in Vietnam and two in China.

Global Coverage Article Reuters.co.uk