Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera Neogale and Mustela and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the American mink and the European mink. The extinct sea mink was related to the American mink but was much larger.
Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A virus, which is enzootic in many bird populations.
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus, which causes the disease avian influenza. It is enzootic in many bird populations, and also panzootic. A/H5N1 virus can also infect mammals that have been exposed to infected birds; in these cases, symptoms are frequently severe or fatal.
The global spread of H5N1 influenza in birds is considered a significant pandemic threat. While other H5N1 influenza strains are known, they are significantly different on a genetic level from a highly pathogenic, emergent strain of H5N1, which was able to achieve hitherto unprecedented global spread in 2008. The H5N1 strain is a fast-mutating, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) found in multiple bird species. It is both epizootic and panzootic. Unless otherwise indicated, "H5N1" in this timeline refers to the 2008 highly pathogenic strain of H5N1.
H5 N2 is a subtype of the species Influenzavirus A. The subtype infects a wide variety of birds, including chickens, ducks, turkeys, falcons, and ostriches. Affected birds usually do not appear ill, and the disease is often mild as avian influenza viral subtypes go. Some variants of the subtype are much more pathogenic than others, and outbreaks of "high-path" H5N2 result in the culling of thousands of birds in poultry farms from time to time. It appears that people who work with birds can be infected by the virus, but suffer hardly any noticeable health effects. Even people exposed to the highly pathogenic H5N2 variety that killed ostrich chicks in South Africa only seem to have developed conjunctivitis, or a perhaps a mild respiratory illness. There is no evidence of human-to-human spread of H5N2. On November 12, 2005 it was reported that a falcon was found to have H5N2. On June 5, 2024, the first confirmed human case of H5N2 was reported in Mexico.
H5N8 is a subtype of the influenza A virus and is highly lethal to wild birds and poultry. H5N8 is typically not associated with humans. However, seven people in Russia were found to be infected in 2021, becoming the first documented human cases.
An outbreak of the H5N1 virus in India in 2006 negatively affected the people living in the area, as the poultry industry was their main source of income at the time. Soon after many birds were reported dead in the village of Navapur, in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, the government intervened, first confirming the presence of the bird flu and then destroying numerous birds to control the spread of the virus. Residents felt the government overreacted, believing the government had wrongly attributed the reason for the bird deaths; had unnecessarily disrupted their main source of income; and did not compensate them properly for the government's destruction of the birds. Residents also believed that the media caused unnecessary panic over the incident. The government denied any over-reaction to the flu outbreak and stated that they had enough Tamiflu vaccine to protect the Indian population.
The global spread of H5N1 in birds is considered a significant pandemic threat.
The 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak was an occurrence of avian influenza in England caused by the H5N1 subtype of Influenza virus A that began on 30 January 2007. The infection affected poultry at one of Bernard Matthews' farms in Holton in Suffolk. It was the third instance of H5N1-subtype detected in the United Kingdom and a range of precautions were instituted to prevent spread of the disease including a large cull of turkeys, the imposition of segregation zones, and a disinfection programme for the plant.
The 2008 bird flu outbreak in West Bengal was an occurrence of avian influenza in West Bengal, India which began in January 2008. The infection was caused by the H5N1 subtype of the Influenza A virus and impacted at least thirteen districts, including Birbhum, Nadia, Murshidabad, Burdwan, Hooghly, Cooch Behar, Malda, Bankura, Purulia, Howrah, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas and South Dinajpur. A range of precautions were instituted including a large cull of chickens, eggs, and poultry birds, the imposition of segregation zones, and a disinfection programme for the plant. The government put a blanket ban on the movement of poultry birds from West Bengal 5 February 2008, but repealed it a week later.
Cornwall is the county that forms the tip of the southwestern peninsula of England; this area has a mild and warm climate regulated by the Gulf Stream. The mild climate allows rich plant cover, such as palm trees in the far south and west of the county and in the Isles of Scilly, due to sub-tropical conditions in the summer.
The global spread of H5N1 in birds is considered a significant pandemic threat.
In reaction to the 2009 flu pandemic, governments around the world had responded with countermeasures, some with extreme actions against pigs, which included the official extermination of all domestic pigs in Egypt and the culling of three wild boars at the Baghdad Zoo in Iraq. Many of these slaughters occurred in Muslim countries, and religious restrictions on the consumption of pork have been cited as influencing the decision to take such action. Many other countries had also banned international trade in pigs and pork products.
The birds of Cornwall are in general a selection of those found in the whole of the British Isles, though Cornwall's position at the extreme south-west of Great Britain results in many occasional migrants. The nightingale is one English bird which is virtually absent from Cornwall.
Influenza A virus subtype H7N9 (A/H7N9) is a subtype of the influenza A virus, which causes influenza (flu), predominantly in birds. It is enzootic in many bird populations. The virus can spread rapidly through poultry flocks and among wild birds; it can also infect humans that have been exposed to infected birds.
H5N6 is a subtype of the species Influenza A virus. Infected birds shed the virus in their saliva, mucus, and feces. The virus was first detected in poultry in 2013, since then spreading among wild bird populations and poultry around the world. Humans can be infected through unprotected contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces. The virus transmits by getting into a person's eyes, nose, mouth, and through inhalation. Human infections are rare. Since 2014, at least 94 cases have occurred in humans. 37 people have died. A spike in human cases was reported in 2021. There have been no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission. Some infections have been identified where no direct contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces has been known to had occurred. Only one infected woman has said that she never came into any contact with poultry.
From April to September 2017 in the Philippines, an outbreak of H5N6 avian influenza or bird flu affected poultry in at least three towns in Central Luzon; San Luis in Pampanga and Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija.
In the early 2020s, an ongoing outbreak of avian influenza subtype H5N8 has been occurring at poultry farms and among wild bird populations in several countries and continents, leading to the subsequent cullings of millions of birds to prevent a pandemic similar to that of the H5N1 outbreak in 2008. The first case of human transmission of avian flu, also known as bird flu, was reported by Russian authorities in February 2021, as several poultry farm workers tested positive for the virus.
Since 2020, outbreaks of avian influenza subtype H5N1 have been occurring, with cases reported from every continent except Australia as of January 2025. Some species of wild aquatic birds act as natural asymptomatic carriers of a large variety of influenza A viruses, which can infect poultry, other bird species, mammals and humans if they come into close contact with infected feces or contaminated material, or by eating infected birds. In late 2023, H5N1 was discovered in the Antarctic for the first time, raising fears of imminent spread throughout the region, potentially leading to a "catastrophic breeding failure" among animals that had not previously been exposed to avian influenza viruses. The main virus involved in the global outbreak is as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, genetic diversification of which with other clades has seen an evolution in the ability to cause significant outbreaks in a broader range of species, mammals included.
