pandemic flu

Dozens of researchers, including myself, worked for years to uncover that swine flu had leapt to humans from a pig in Mexico in 2009. We learned a lot about influenza evolution, pig farming, and outbreak risk along the way.

The pathogen known as swine flu evolved in pigs in Mexico following imports of the livestock from the US and Europe.

Seven years of surveillance and research revealed the complex history of the H1N1 virus that leapt from pigs to humans and sparked the global swine flu outbreak.

Dozens of researchers, including myself, worked for years to uncover that swine flu had leapt to humans from a pig in Mexico in 2009. We learned a lot about influenza evolution, pig farming, and outbreak risk along the way.

Influenza RNA sequences from three sets of lungs preserved in formalin since 1918 provide new insights into the deadly pandemic.

Although scientists debate the ethics of deliberately infecting volunteers with SARS-CoV-2, plenty of consenting participants have been exposed to all sorts of pathogens in prior trials.

An influenza virus identified in pigs in China has a concerning mix of genes, but experts say there is no way to know if it will evolve to be transmissible between humans.

Microbiologist Maurice Hilleman foresaw the global spread of a novel influenza strain in 1957. His vaccine saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

They may be a prospective source for an influenza pandemic, researchers warn.  

The woman, a resident of southeast China, has since recovered.

Mice and ferrets are protected from several deadly viruses when genes encoding “broadly neutralizing antibodies” are delivered into their nasal passages.

The second of the two controversial bird flu papers is published in Science, revealing that just five mutations can render the virus transmissible between ferrets.

Biosecurity board recommends publication of data detailing transmissibility of H5N1 avian influenza.

The creation of H5N1 bird flu strains that are transmissible between mammals has thrown the scientific community into a heated debate about whether such research should be allowed and how it should be regulated.

A series of articles published in open access journal mBio underscores the variety in opinion on whether a transmissible H5N1 strain should be studied.