A GLOBAL FLU PANDEMIC

The 1918 Flu Pandemic

In 1918 and 1919, a deadly strain of influenza killed 50 million people worldwide. The virus appeared first in Kansas and spread to the rest of the world through soldiers fighting in World War I. Scientist have recently reconstructed the virus and now believe that it may have originated in birds Sources: National Geographic: Bird Flu and National Geographic: Spanish Flu.

Some people wonder whether scientists are overreacting to bird flu. After all, the virus has infected under 200 people, as compared to millions of birds. It also can't easily move from birds to people, and it's even less able to move from person to person. But public health officials have several concerns about avian flu:

• It has an extremely high mortality rate and kills previously healthy young adults.
• Since many wild, migrating birds carry it, controlling its spread is difficult.
• There's no vaccine for the virus, which appears to be developing a resistance to the few drugs that can limit its severity. Scientists are also investigating whether use of amantadine - a drug intended for humans - in Chinese poultry may have caused additional resistance.

Right now, avian flu H5N1 is most threatening to birds, especially in Asia. The biggest threat to human health and potential for the spread of the disease is also in Asia, where many rural families have at least a few chickens that typically roam free instead of living in an enclosure. But health officials report that the disease has gotten hardier and more infectious, and they worry that it may mutate and become a bigger threat to people.