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Infamous flu virus reveals its past

Efforts to decipher the genetic secrets of the 1918 flu virus continue but so far fail to resolve why it was so deadly.

References:

Reid, A.H., et al. 1999. Origin and evolution of the 1918 "Spanish" influenza virus hemagglutinin gene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96(Feb. 16):1651.

Webster, R.G. 1999. 1918 Spanish influenza: The secrets remain elusive. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96(Feb. 16):1164.

Further Readings:

Sternberg, S. 1997. A doughboy's lungs yield 1918 flu virus. Science News 151(March 22):172.

Sources:

Ann H. Reid
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Department of Cellular Pathology
Division of Molecular Pathology
Washington, DC 20306-6000

From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 9, February 27, 1999, p. 139. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.

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