Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, an infectious disease caused by type A strains of the influenza virus, appeared in Southeast Asia in December 2003.

July 2005

The first report of the deaths of wild and domestic fowl in certain farming regions of the Novosibirsk region (West Siberia), a resting point for migrating birds, came on July 11, 2005.

July 21, 2005 bird flu confirmed in Russia

Russia's chief doctor, Gennady Onishchenko, confirmed that the virus had been discovered in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia. The Federal Veterinarian and Epidemiological Oversight Service said type A, subtype H5N1 virus had been found after analyzing birds that had died in the Novosibirsk region.

August 2005

Bird flu is identified in the Altai territory and the Omsk region in the south of West Siberia on August 12.

Outbreaks of bird hit seven Federation members: five in Siberia (Altai, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tyumen and Kurgan), one in the South Urals (Chelyabinsk) and another in the Southern Federal District (Kalmykia), as of August 23. Bird flu virus has now been reported in 45 areas (91 villages) since July.

September 2005

Bird flu is registered in 48 towns and villages, and 81 are suspected of being contaminated. Quarantine has been lifted in 22 towns and villages.

October 2005

October 21, mass domestic fowl deaths are reported in two villages in the Rostov region in southern Russia, in the Tula region near Moscow, and in the Tambov region (about 300 miles to the southeast of Moscow).

October 24, bird flu confirmed in the Tambov and Tula regions, but not confirmed in the Rostov region.

Quarantine is lifted in the Tyumen region but no one in contact with fowl contracts the disease.

The Russian Poultry Farming Union assesses the country's direct losses from the bird flu outbreak in Russia at about 12 million rubles ($420,000), and indirect losses at about 110 million rubles ($3.9 million). Over 12,000 birds have now died in the Urals and Siberia, and another 144,000 were killed to prevent the disease from spreading.

Amid official reports on a possibility of a bird flu epidemic among humans in 2006, Russia plans to reserve 300,000 hospital beds by spring.

November 2005

The Russian Agriculture Ministry reports that bird flu has been confirmed in 12 Russian villages and that 21 more could be contaminated as of November 3.

Quarantine in the Altai Territory is lifted as of November 17

The Russian Agriculture Ministry reports that five villages in Russia are still affected by outbreaks as of November 18: two in the Altai Territory, and one each in the Kurgan Region (the Urals), the Chelyabinsk Region (the Urals), and the Tambov Region