The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed on Wednesday another case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Thailand which was fatal.

This is the first human case of H5N1 infection reported from Thailand in 2006. The case brings the total in Thailand to 23. Of these cases, 15 have been fatal.

Here is a chronology of major bird flu developments in 2006:

Jan 18 - International donors pledge $1.9 billion to combat the spread of bird flu at a conference in Beijing.

Feb 8 - The first African cases of the deadly H5N1 strain are detected in poultry in the northern Nigerian states of Kano, Kaduna and Plateau.

Feb 11/12 - Italy says six wild swans found in Sicily and on the southern mainland tested positive for H5N1. In Greece, three swans found south of Thessaloniki test positive for H5N1. These are the first known cases of the strain in the EU.

Feb 14 - Iran and Austria report cases of H5N1.

Feb 15 - Germany confirms two dead swans found on the Baltic island of Ruegen were infected with H5N1. More than 100 wild birds have since tested positive for H5N1.

Feb 17 - Egypt finds its first cases of H5N1 in chickens.

Feb 18 - India announces its first cases of H5N1, finding the virus in poultry in a western state.

Feb 22 - The EU approves plans by France and the Netherlands to vaccinate millions of hens, ducks and geese against bird flu.

Feb 25 - France confirms H5N1 at a farm in the east where thousands of turkeys have died. It is the first case of the virus in domestic farm birds in the EU.

Feb 27 - Domestic ducks from Niger test positive for H5N1.

March 6 - Poland confirms two dead swans had H5N1.

March 16 - Afghanistan, Myanmar and Denmark confirm their first cases of H5N1 in birds. The next day Israel confirms its first cases.

March 21 - Pakistan confirm bird flu, with H5N1 reported in two poultry flocks at farms in the North West Frontier Province.

March 24 - Jordan confirms H5N1 after at least three dead turkeys at a farm in Ajloun tested positive for the disease.

April 6 - Britain confirms H5N1 in a swan in Scotland.

April 26 - Ivory Coast detects its first outbreaks of H5N1 in birds.

May 11 - Djibouti announces its first case of human H5N1, in the first confirmed human case in the Horn of Africa.

July 6 - Spain confirms the country’s first case of H5N1 in a wild migratory water bird in the northern province of Alava.

July 26 - WHO confirms the 15th death in Thailand. The global death toll stands at 134, with six victims in Egypt, four in Turkey, 42 in Indonesia, six in Cambodia, 12 in China, 15 in Thailand, 42 in Vietnam, two in Iraq and five in Azerbaijan.

– Pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline Plc says a bird flu vaccine for humans that uses only a very low dose of active ingredient has proved effective in clinical tests and could be mass produced in 2007 if the product is approved by regulators.