Timeline: Swine flu

Check out the timeline of Swine flu spread across the globe:

22 July 2009 : Two Australian companies say they have started human
trials of their swine flu vaccines.

16 July 2009 : WHO changes reporting requirements for H1N1 and
abandons issuing global tables with numbers of confirmed cases for all
countries.

It notes that the increasing number of cases "is making it extremely
difficult, if not impossible, for countries to try and confirm them
through laboratory testing".

8 July 2009 : WHO says the three incidences of drug resistant H1N1 to
date are "sporadic cases" of resistance. "At this time, there is no
evidence to indicate the development of widespread antiviral
resistance among pandemic H1N1 viruses."

2 July 2009: Japan's health ministry reports that it too has detected
a case of Tamiflu resistant H1N1.

The UK moves its swine flu response from 'containment' to 'treatment'.
"Our national focus should be on treating the increasing numbers
affected by swine flu," says health minister Andy Burnham.

29 June 2009: The first case of Tamiflu resistant swine flu has been
reported in Denmark

24 June 2009: Argentinian authorities report that a pig at a pig farm
in Buenos Aires province has tested positive for the novel H1N1
strain, making it only the second known swine infection outside of
Canada.

22 June 2009: Chinese state news source Xinhua reports tests have
begun on the first H1N1 vaccine developed in the country.

19 June 2009: South Africa confirms its first case of swine flu -
offically marking the disease's spread into sub-Saharan Africa.

14 June 2009: The first swine flu death in Europe has been reported. A
woman in Scotland who died with H1N1 had "underlying health
conditions", according to the Scottish government.

11 June 2009: Phase 6 has been declared. The world is in a full-blown
influenza pandemic for the first time in 41 years.

9 June 2009: The WHO reports that Inuit communities in Canada may be
particularly hard-hit. It continues to face questions as to why a
full-blown pandemic has not been declared.

8 June 2009: The WHO adds a death in the Dominican Republic to its
list, bringing the number of countries that have reported deaths to
six.

3 June 2009: H1N1 has reached Africa. The WHO has confirmed a case in Egypt.

Cases in Australia stand at 501, the largest number outside of the Americas.

A report in Eurosurveillance estimates a reproduction number for the
virus — the average number of secondary cases generated by a single
primary case — of 2.3 in Japan. That's higher than estimates from
elsewhere.

The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report suggests that the
outbreak in Mexico may have peaked in late April.

2 June 2009: The WHO says it is inching closer to moving its pandemic
alert status to phase 6, which would denote official global pandemic
status.

1 June 2009: June opens with 17,410 cases reported in 62 countries,
including newbies like the Bahamas and Estonia. The death toll in
Mexico stands at 97.

In the US there are or have been cases in all 50 states, including 17
deaths, according to the CDC. MedImmune, a biotechnology firm in
Gaithersburg, Maryland, wins a $90 million contract from the federal
government to begin developing a live attenuated vaccine for H1N1.

27 May 2009: A New England Journal of Medicine article argues, in
response to suggestions that the WHO evaluate its criteria for moving
to phase 6 and declaring a pandemic, that "the global extent of a
pandemic should be described objectively and should be just one factor
in decisions about how to respond."

22 May 2009: Australia raises its alert level to 'Contain', even as
the Mexican government relaxes its restrictions in Mexico City.

20 May 2009: Worldwide case numbers have passed the scientifically
meaningless but impressive sounding 10,000-case mark. Total number:
10,243.

18 May 2009: The day it confirmed that 8,829 H1N1 cases have been
reported in 40 countries, the WHO has cautioned against complacency.

"This virus may have given us a grace period, but we do not know how
long this grace period will last," said Margaret Chan, WHO
director-general. "No one can say whether this is just the calm before
the storm."

However the pandemic alert level is still at five today, one level
below a full pandemic.

13 May 2009: As of this morning, 33 countries have reported 5,728
cases of H1N1 to the WHO.

12 May 2009: The CDC notes that it is seeing some severe complications
in cases of H1N1 in pregnant women, including one death in the US.

11 May 2009: The WHO has confirmed swine flu deaths in Canada and
Costa Rica, bringing the total number of countries where fatalities
have occurred to four.

Mexico has reported 48 deaths and the United States three. Worldwide,
30 countries have officially reported 4694 cases.

A modeling study in Science suggests that the virus spreads at a rate
comparable to that of previous influenza pandemics.

8 May 2009: Brazil reports four cases, bringing the number of affected
countries to 25. Deaths now stand at 44 worldwide, with 2,500
confirmed cases. Most newly reported cases in new areas, the WHO says,
come from travelers returning from affected areas. The CDC reports
that hospitalization rates in the US are coming down, to 3.5%, as
testing expands to include milder cases.

The Harvard School of Public Health releases a poll in which 83% of
Americans polled say they are satisfied with the way public health
officials have managed the outbreak. Still, 48% of parents with
children in school think they or a family member will come down with
H1N1 in the next year.

7 May 2009: Worldwide confirmed cases are now at 2,371.

6 May 2009: WHO confirms swine flu cases in Sweden and Guatemala.

5 May 2009: Mexico's H1N1 shutdown should begin to ease tomorrow, with
restaurants and cafes set to reopen.

The latest WHO figures say the virus has now spread to 21 countries.
Mexico has reported 590 cases and 25 deaths while the United States
has reported 286 cases and one death.

However, the Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed a
second person has died in the United States. The DSHS says a woman
with "chronic underlying health conditions" died earlier this week.

The following countries have reported cases but no deaths: Austria,
Canada, China (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Costa Rica,
Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Spain,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

4 May 2009: Colombia joins the club. There are now 985 cases in 20
countries. Mexico is up to 25 deaths, but officials there say the
disease seems to be on the decline.

3 May 2009: Ireland and Italy each report one case. 898 cases are now reported.

2 May 2009: China (Hong Kong special administrative region), Costa
Rica, Denmark, France, and the Republic of Korea join the list. Total
cases reported to the WHO are now at 658 in 16 countries.

Canadian authorities announce that H1N1 has been detected in a swine
herd in Alberta. The pigs likely caught the virus from a Canadian who
had recently visited Mexico, making this the first known case of
human-to-animal transmission.

1 May 2009: As of this morning, 331 cases of H1N1 have been reported
in 11 countries. According to the WHO, the worst outbreaks are still
in Mexico (156 cases and nine deaths) and the United States (109 cases
and one death).

30 April 2009: Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands join the WHO
list of countries with confirmed cases. The agency also announces it
will refer to the virus not as swine flu but as influenza A(H1N1).

29 April 2009: The WHO raises pandemic level alert to phase 5, "a
strong signal that a pandemic is imminent". First swine-flu death
outside Mexico reported as a baby dies in Texas. Germany joins
European countries with H1N1 and confirms three swine flu cases. The
WHO confirms 7 more cases in Canada, bringing the total number there
to 13.

28 April 2009: Seven countries are now reporting confirmed cases of
H1N1 swine flu: the United States, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, the
United Kingdom, Israel and Spain.

27 April 2009: Canada reports six cases of swine flu and Spain reports
one. In the United States 40 people have flu confirmed. In Mexico 26
cases are confirmed, with 7 deaths resulting. Estimates for the true
number of deaths hover around 80.

The WHO raises pandemic alert level to 4 having confirmed
human-to-human transmission able to cause 'community-level outbreaks'.
"Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but
does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion,"
says the organisation.

25 April 2009: WHO director-general, Margaret Chan calls the flu
problem "a public health emergency of international concern ".

23 April 2009: Officials issue orders to close schools in Mexico City,
beginning a process of limiting public crowds. Three major soccer
[futbol] games around Mexico City close stadium gates to all fans the
weekend of April 25-26, with games broadcast on television. Stadium
closures continue through May 2-3.

21 April 2009: CDC laboratories confirm two cases in California. Three
additional cases confirmed the next day, with two more in Texas added
the day after.

28 March 2009: Earliest onset date of swine flu reaching the United
States, according to the CDC.

18 March 2009 : Federal District of Mexico begins to pick up cases of swine flu.