1918 killer flu 'came from birds'
October 6, 2005
The Spanish flu virus that killed 50 million people in 1918-19 was probably a strain that originated in birds, research has shown.
US scientists have found the 1918 virus shares genetic mutations with the bird flu virus now circulating in Asia.
Writing in Nature, they say their work underlines the threat the current strain poses to humans worldwide.
A second paper in Science reveals another US team has successfully recreated the 1918 virus in mice.
The virus is contained at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under stringent safety conditions.
It is hoped to carry out experiments to further understand the biological properties that made the virus so virulent.
The virus was recreated from data produced by painstaking research by a team from the US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
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