The Secret History Of H1N1
Timeline: the secret history of swine flu
By Debora Mackenzie and Michael Marshall
Published 15:26 29 October 2009
About 6 months ago, Swine Flu became a huge threat to global health. Many people automatically assumed that the H1N1 virus had come out of nowhere, when in fact, it has an highly unknown history that traces back to more then a century ago.
In 1889 a new strand of H2 flu had arose in Russia and spread around the world, killing about 1 million people. The people born before 1889 and have been exposed to H1 virus has some immunity to it. Those born after 1889 have no immunity to the H1 virus, and also means it provides no immunity to the deadly “Spanish Flu” epidemic of 1918. The epidemic killed at least 50 Million people world wide.
An H1N1 virus jumped from pigs to humans and killed a US army recruit in 1976, but the virus didn‘t trigger a pandemic because it hadn’t spread beyond the army base. In 1977, some suspect an H1N1 virus escaped in a laboratory accident. It appears in north-east China, and had started circulating in humans. By 1999 the H1N1 flu virus emerges in the US and is a dominate flu strain in US pigs. Pig farms tried to restrain the virus by vaccine. However, the flu had evolved too quickly, so the vaccines were no help. In 2007 and 2008 some scientists find that the risk of dying of flu is partly genetic.
The first cases of a new swine flu were reported in California and Texas in late March of 2009. Subsequent genetic analysis suggests that it may have started circulating in humans in January. In late April, the US government advises against travel to Mexico due to the 900 cases of suspected swine flu outbreaks there. Although researchers find that banning travelers from Mexico will not stop the virus from spreading. In May, we find that countries are poorly prepared, and a sufficient amount of vaccines wont be ready in time for the second wave of the H1N1 virus. In June, more cases of the swine flu are detected when the UK and other countries decide to start testing people with the flu. In July of 2009, the usual seasonal flu is replaced by the H1N1 virus in the southern hemisphere where it is now winter. Finally, in October of 2009, 6 months after the swine flu started its attention demanding outbreak, US president Barack Obama declares the virus a national emergency. It turns out that your mother was right to warn you about catching the flu when it’s cold out.
What do you think are some good ways to prevent Swine Flu?
What are some things that you think the US could have done differently to help prevent such an outbreak?
Did you think that the Swine Flu had such a record behind the recent outbreak?
Uncategorized | Comments (10)10 Responses to “The Secret History Of H1N1”
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i like this but how come he decleared it a national emergency
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One good way to prevent yourself from getting the H1N1 is to wash your hands all the time. Another way would be to not share drinks with people. Some people may not even know they have the H1N1 virus and you drink off of them and now you are sick.
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The swine flu is the exact same thing as influenza A but it hits a different age group. So what you should do to prevent yourself from getting it the same a the regular flu wash your hands after contact with people that seem to be sick.
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I agree with Teonny that washing your hands and not sharing drinks with people are a good way to prevent it along with prevent spreading it.
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Some good ways to prevent swine flu are to get vaccinated and to wash your hands all of the time.
I think that the US could have prevented international traveling when the outbreak first became known to help stop the spread of swine flu. And also they could have spent a little bit more money on producing and getting the vaccine to the public.
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this is an alright artical but why is it such a big deal the flu kills more people then this does the only reason its so big is becaus of in mexico it killed a few people
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I had never thought that H1N1 had killed so many people years ago, It never crossed my mind if the virus had came out before this breakout. Thanks to this article, I am now aware.
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I think that H1N1 is hiting pretty hard here in america. We should should all be more aware of what we are doing that may help spread the disease. I have been also trying to prevent spreading and catching the disease with simple things that everyone could do. I have been washing my hands and keeping my drinks and food to myself.
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I think alot of people are worrying to much about the swine flu. There has been ALOT of rumors going around and people making up stories such as when mexicans crossed the border it will never go away.
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I actually didnt think that it had a record before. I think that we can get the vaccinations to help prevent it. I also think that we should wash our hands more and be careful who we drink after.
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