Related topics: swine flu , virus , influenza
Influenza pandemic
hideAn influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads on a worldwide scale and infects a large proportion of the human population. In contrast to the regular seasonal epidemics of influenza, these pandemics occur irregularly, with the 1918 Spanish flu the most serious pandemic in recent history. Pandemics can cause high levels of mortality, with the Spanish influenza estimated as being responsible for the deaths of over 50 million people. There have been about three influenza pandemics in each century for the last 300 years. The most recent ones were the Asian Flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu in 1968.
Influenza pandemics occur when a new strain of the influenza virus is transmitted to humans from another animal species. Species that are thought to be important in the emergence of new human strains are pigs, chickens and ducks. These novel strains are unaffected by any immunity people may have to older strains of human influenza and can therefore spread extremely rapidly and infect very large numbers of people. Influenza A viruses can occasionally be transmitted from wild birds to other species causing outbreaks in domestic poultry and may give rise to human influenza pandemics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns[when?] that there is a substantial risk of an influenza pandemic within the next few years[when?]. One of the strongest candidates is a highly pathogenic variation of the H5N1 subtype of Influenza A virus. As of 2006, prepandemic influenza vaccines are being developed against the most likely suspects which include H5N1, H7N1, and H9N2. Certain scholars and senior policy advisors argue that pandemic influenza represents a substantive threat to the international economy, to each nation's national security, and a challenge to international governance.
On 11 June 2009, a new strain of H1N1 influenza was declared to be a global pandemic (Stage 6) by the World Health Organization after evidence of spreading in the southern hemisphere.
For more information about Influenza pandemic, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with flu pandemic
Swine flu worse in Mexico than US, but why?
Apr 26, 2009 |
5 / 5 (9) |
21
(AP) -- Why has the swine flu engulfing Mexico been deadly there, but not in the United States?
WHO: up to 2 billion people might get swine flu
May 07, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
1
(AP) -- The World Health Organization says up to 2 billion people could be infected by swine flu, if the current outbreak turns into a pandemic.
Shades of 1918? New study compares avian flu with a notorious killer from the past
Biology /
Feb 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (7) |
0
In the waning months of the First World War, a lethal virus known as the Spanish flu (influenza A, subtype H1N1), swept the United States, Europe and Asia in three convulsive waves. The year was 1918. The ...
Health authorities rush to tackle killer flu in US, Mexico
Apr 24, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (7) |
0
World health authorities on Friday rushed to tackle flu outbreaks in the United States and Mexico that have killed at least 60 people and have pandemic potential.
Swine flu hits Europe
Apr 27, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
0
Swine flu hit Europe with the first confirmed cases in Britain and Spain on Monday as governments and travel companies urged travellers to avoid Mexico where the virus has likely killed 149 people.
Study: H1N1 flu virus ill-suited for rapid transmission, but new strain bears watching, could mutate
Jul 02, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
2
A team from MIT and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a genetic explanation for why the new H1N1 "swine flu" virus has spread from person to person less effectively than other flu viruses.
World 'getting closer' to swine flu pandemic: WHO
Jun 02, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (6) |
1
The world is "getting closer" to a swine flu pandemic as the virus shows early signs of spreading locally in countries outside the Americas, a senior World Health Organisation official said Tuesday.
UK's attempts to stop swine flu called flawed
May 21, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
(AP) -- Flu experts are looking very closely at Britain - and some have decided that the U.K.'s swine flu-fighting tactics are seriously off the mark and may be hiding a much larger outbreak.
Swine flu: Early findings about pandemic potential reported in new study
May 11, 2009 |
2.9 / 5 (7) |
0
Early findings about the emerging pandemic of a new strain of influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico are published today in Science.
1918 flu resulted in current lineage of H1N1 swine influenza viruses, study says
Apr 30, 2009 |
4 / 5 (5) |
1
In 1918 a human influenza virus known as the Spanish flu spread through the central United States while a swine respiratory disease occurred concurrently. A Kansas State University researcher has found that the virus causing ...
Scientist warns over pandemic flu vaccine 6-month time lag
Apr 27, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
0
New research published today (Monday April 27) from the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust warns of a six-month time lag before effective vaccines can be manufactured in the event of a ...
Fear, anger and fatalism over swine flu in Mexico
Apr 25, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
2
(AP) -- The schools and museums are closed. Sold-out games between Mexico's most popular soccer teams are being played in empty stadiums. Health workers are ordering sickly passengers off subways and buses. ...
WHO says swine flu moving closer to pandemic
Apr 29, 2009 |
2.5 / 5 (6) |
0
(AP) -- The World Health Organization warned Wednesday that the swine flu outbreak is moving closer to becoming a pandemic, as the United States reported the first swine flu death outside of Mexico, and Germany ...
Recovering antibodies from 1918 flu pandemic survivors
Nov 11, 2008 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus — from elderly survivors ...
Researcher shows possible link between 1918 El Nino and flu pandemic
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 14, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (4) |
1
Research conducted at Texas A&M University casts doubts on the notion that El Niño has been getting stronger because of global warming and raises interesting questions about the relationship between El Niño and a severe flu ...
