Avian influenza and influenza pandemics

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, April, 2004 by Stefano Lazzari

Well before the 31 influenza outbreaks recorded since the first pandemic was described in 1580, pandemic-like events were reported as early as the fifth century BC by the Greek physician Hippocrates. In the last century, the "Spanish flu" pandemic of 1918-19 killed 20-40 million people, while the "Asian flu" pandemic in 1957 and "Hong Kong flu" in 1968 each caused an estimated 1-4 million deaths.

Pandemics originate with the emergence of a new subtype of influenza virus able to cause disease, replicate in humans, and spread efficiently from one person to another. An avian influenza virus ...