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Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus


CDC researchers and their colleagues have successfully reconstructed the influenza virus that caused the 1918-19 flu pandemic, which killed as many as 50 million people worldwide. A report of their work, "Characterization of the Reconstructed 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic Virus," was published in the October 7 issue of Science. The work is a collaboration among scientists from CDC , Mount Sinai School of Medicine , the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology , and Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory. The following questions and answers describe this important research and related issues.


Early Pandemic Flu Wave May Protect Against Worse One LaterEvidence Shows Spring Outbreak in 1918 May Have Immunized Against Deadlier Second Wave

New evidence about the worldwide influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 indicates that getting the flu early protected many people against a second deadlier wave, an article co-authored by an NIH epidemiologist concludes. American soldiers, British sailors and a group of British civilians who were afflicted by the first mild wave of influenza in early 1918 apparently were more immune than others to the severe clinical effects of a more virulent strain later in the year, according to the paper published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseasesby medical historian John Barry, staff scientist Cécile Viboud, Ph.D., of the NIH’s Fogarty International Center and epidemiologist Lone Simonson, Ph.D., of The George Washington University.

Interregional spread of influenza through United States described by virus type, size of population and commuting rates and distance

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conclude that the regional spread of annual influenza epidemics throughout the United States is more closely connected with rates of movement of people to and from work than with geographical distance or air travels. They also found that epidemics spread faster between more populous locations. This valuable study highlights new approaches to using historical data sources and statistical analysis to create epidemiological models. These models not only help us understand the transmission of influenza but also could guide policy for its control" said Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, NIH Director.