FIRST BIRDS - AND THEN PIGS 

    1918 killer flu secrets revealed
    Scientists have worked out how the virus which caused the
    world's worst ever flu epidemic infected man. 

    They believe the virus, which claimed the lives of 50m people
    around the world, jumped from birds to humans. 

    But the National Institute for Medical Research team warns
    viruses cannot be stopped from crossing between species. 

    They also say their work is unlikely to aid the current fight
    against avian flu in the Far East as knowing the structure of
    a virus is not enough to block its progress. 

    However, the NIMR team has studied the HA of the 1918 virus in
    close detail, and found that only minor changes in its structure
    were required for it to start to bind with human cells as well as
    bird cells. 

    This gave it the ability to pass from birds to humans, and then
    between humans - with devastating results. 

    However, scientists would not be able to predict the form future
    versions of the virus would take - or prevent their formation. 

    Huge death toll 

    The 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic is estimated to have infected up
    to one billion people - half the world's population at the time. 

    The virus killed more people that any other single outbreak of
    disease, surpassing even the Black Death of the Middle Ages. 

    Although it probably originated in the Far East, it was dubbed
    "Spanish" flu because the press in Spain - not being involved in
    the Great War - were the first to report extensively on its impact. 

    The virus caused three waves of disease. The second of these,
    between September and December 1918, resulting in the
    heaviest loss of life. 

    It is thought that the virus may have played a role in ending the
    Great War as soldiers were too sick to fight, and by that stage
    more men on both sides died of flu than were killed by weapons.

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    http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_863075.html?menu=
    Ananova:  

    Pigs infected with bird flu

    Pigs in Vietnam have tested positive for the bird flu virus
    that has infected millions of poultry across Asia and killed
    18 people, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation said
    in Hanoi.

    "Nasal swabs taken from pigs have been positive for
    H5N1," said Anton Rychener, Hanoi representative for the
    UN agency.

    "It continues to be under investigation and is of concern.
    We'll be bringing in an expert."

    Officials have said the bird flu sweeping Asia is contracted
    through direct contact with infected birds. But experts have
    said it is possible that the virus jumped to humans through
    another mammal, such as pigs, which have been implicated
    in human flu epidemics in the past.

    Swine are often housed with poultry in traditional family
    farms in Asia and are genetically more similar to humans
    than are birds.

    Avian influenza has killed 13 people in Vietnam and five in
    Thailand.

    Story filed: 10:25 Friday 6th February 2004


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