Avian influenza and influenza pandemics

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 ...

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