The Bird Flu.

[alva]

Poly quiz IIXX: the short edition

Why was it called the Spanish flu?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Oerdin
There is a difference between "Spanish flu" which was just regular flu with one mutation to make it more virolent and speculating about a virus which can only spread from birds will mutate into spreading among mammals. Please be honest enough to admit that.

IIUC many scientist believe that many pandemics start when a flu virus circulating in a non-human species manages to spread from humans to humans. South China is often a starting point for pandemics (though NOT the Spanish flu, IIUC) due to humans, pigs and poultry living in close proximity - pigs being able to harbor both human and avian flues, and genetic interchange between the flu viruses taking place in the pig cells.

But of course we dont KNOW that the bird flu will mutate to human to human transmission. But its certainly not a vanishingly small probability that it will. ANd if it does, it could well start a very dangerous pandemic.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Oerdin
There is a difference between "Spanish flu" which was just regular flu with one mutation to make it more virolent and speculating about a virus which can only spread from birds will mutate into spreading among mammals. Please be honest enough to admit that.

wiki:

"One prevailing theory hypothesizes that two primary mechanisms in genetics -- genetic drift and antigenic shift -- were involved in the creation of the virus strain found at Fort Riley in Kansas. The fort bred its own swine and poultry for local consumption. As is the case with the avian flu in Asian countries, poultry in the United States characteristically contract a certain strain of influenza. Swine also characteristically contract a specific strain of influenza; however, the two strains (one infecting avian species, the other infecting swine) can usually cross-infect the opposite species. Occasionally, when the viruses cross infect from one species to another, one influenza strain can incorporate the other strain's properties and change drastically (so called "shift"). On the other hand, genetic drift is the random incorporation of mutations into the genome. The new influenza can have the potential to kill half or more of the poultry and/or swine population, but what really concerns epidemiologists is genetic "shift", which is also theorized to have occurred at the fort. The strain that was jumping from swine to poultry or vice-versa jumped to humans (the genetic "shift") allowing the influenza that was confined to swine and poultry to become a human pathogen. At the same time, the new strain was highly infectious and deadly because humanity had never experienced such a strain of influenza.

Recently, scientists (see below) have reconstructed the virus, and the evidence gained from that reconstruction suggests that the virus jumped directly from birds to humans, without traveling through the swine. This does not eliminate the idea that the pandemic started with a Fort Riley cook, however; indeed, he could have been preparing chickens when he contracted the virus."

[Krill]

It is called the Spanish Flu, Alva, because that is where it got the majority of the press attention. This is because Spain did not have censorship, due to not participating in WW1...

[alva]

Meh, knowing things like this, just isn't fun on Poly.
You're all too smart.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by alva
Poly quiz IIXX: the short edition

Why was it called the Spanish flu?

Because people at the time thought it came from Spain. IIRC the Spanish called it French flu.

[alva]

Err, Oerdin, Krill beat you by 40 minutes ( with a more complete answer btw).

[Dinner]

But not with my flare.

[Krill]

You were still slow.

[Dinner]

Style takes time. Besides the good stuff needs repeating.

[LordShiva]

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/bird/

[Nostromo]

Elric of Melniboné has nothing on you, LS

[Panag]

why does a two year old thread needs to be bumped , ....

[EPW]

So whatever happened to the bird flu thing?

[BeBMan]

It flew away.