Timeline: Bird flu in the UK

The discovery of a strain of bird flu in turkeys at a farm in Holton, Suffolk, is the latest episode of the virus now affecting the UK.

In April 2006 a strain was found in chickens at a Norfolk farm and the month before that the deadly H5N1 strain was found in a dead swan on the Fife coast.

Below are the key developments in the UK so far:

4 February 2007 Government vets start gassing infected birds at the Holton farm.

3 February 2007 The European Commission says tests confirm that the avian flu is the H5N1 virus.

1 February 2007 Vets are called to the Bernard Matthews farm, in Holton, Suffolk. Early tests suggests the H5 strain of avian flu is responsible for the deaths of 2,600 turkeys.

26 April 2006 Chickens test positive for bird flu - early tests suggests the H7 strain - at a farm near Dereham, Norfolk, leading to the slaughter of 35,000 birds. The H7 strain is virulent among chickens but less of a risk to humans than the H5N1 strain.

22 April 2006 Protection zone affecting how poultry is kept within 3km of where the dead swan was found is lifted. The 10km surveillance zone, where movement of poultry products is restricted - and the broader risk area - remain in place until at least the end of the month.

20 April 2006 Scotland's First Minister announces that restrictions imposed in the wake of the discovery of the dead swan are to be lifted.

11 April 2006 Dead bird identified as a whooper swan, not native to the UK, but scientists remain unsure whether it contracted the disease abroad or after it arrived in Britain.

6 April 2006 H5N1 is confirmed in the swan, and Scotland's contingency plan is put into effect. Tests on more birds are carried out.

5 April 2006 Laboratory tests confirm the presence of highly-pathogenic H5 avian flu in the dead swan. Further tests are carried out to establish whether it is the lethal H5N1 strain.

A two-day exercise to test the UK's bird-flu plans is abandoned so that resources can be switched to the Scotland incident.

31 March 2006 Samples from the bird are received at the main testing laboratories in Weybridge, Surrey, for further analysis.

30 March 2006 The swan is collected and taken away for laboratory tests.

29 March 2006 A mute swan found dead in the harbour at Cellardyke, near Anstruther, Fife, is reported to the authorities.

15 November 2005 Subsequent tests show the disease is most likely to have come from the finches rather than the parrot. A government report blamed the confusion on a mix-up of tissue samples.

21 October 2005 The lethal H5N1 strain is confirmed in one of the parrots, but because the bird was in quarantine, the discovery does not affect the UK's disease-free status.

14 October 2005 Some of the finches and parrots are found dead and tested for bird flu.

27 September 2005 A group of finches arrives at the same quarantine premises in Essex as part of a mixed consignment of birds from Taiwan.

19 September 2005 Department of Health publishes its latest pandemic flu contingency plan. Scotland issues its own updated plan.
16 September 2005 A consignment of parrots arrives in quarantine in Essex from Surinam, in South America.