2 old flu articles

[Guest guest]

 

KD Weber <wvadreamin

Tuesday, 9 December 2003 10:00

2 old flu articles

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/280198.stm

First genetic secrets of killer flu

Haemorrhaged lung tissue from an corpse dug out of the Alaskan tundra

The first gene has been sequenced from the devastating influenza virus which

killed at least 20m people in 1918.

 

Ann Reid explains how she " caught " the flu.

It is the first step towards finding out why that virus strain was so

deadly. It is also a step towards creating better protection against future

outbreaks, which the scientists warn are inevitable.

 

The genetic information was painstakingly pieced together from virus

fragments taken from the body of an Inuit woman released from the permafrost

of Alaska´s tundra in 1997. The preserved lungs of two US soldiers were also

used.

 

Ann Reid and colleagues at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology,

Washington DC, USA, carried out the study. She told BBC News Online the fact

that decomposition had broken up the virus had advantages and disadvantages.

 

" If we had it whole, we could sequence it in a week. In pieces it will take

us four years, but this way does mean there is no risk at all.

 

Lung tissue from soldiers who died in 1918

" We hope there will be some clues in the genetic structure that we could

then look for in new emerging viruses. You could then possibly design drugs

or vaccines in advance to target the particular changes that makes it so

lethal. "

 

The team´s work shows that the 1918 virus, which killed by filling the lungs

with fluid and causing haemorrhaging, had adapted to pigs and humans several

years before the outbreak.

 

This is unusual as most pandemics, including those in 1957 and 1968,

transfer directly from birds. However, the 1918 virus was the most closely

related to " bird flu " of all those found in humans.

 

The work is a triumph for Dr Johan Hultin, whose intrepid expedition to

Alaska recovered the tissue from the Inuit woman´s corpse. He was successful

because the woman had been very fat and was therefore slow to decay. Dr

Hultin´s adventures were the subject of a recent BBC Horizon documentary.

 

The gene the team sequenced is crucial in the infection process. It produces

a protein called hemagglutinin which sits on the surface of the virus

particle and grabs cells to infect them. Because it is on the surface,

hemagglutinin is also the primary target of the body´s immune system.

 

The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences.

 

http://millennium-debate.org/indsun7oct2.htm

7 October 2001

Bodies to be dug up in war on killer flu

By Robert Mendick

 

Scientists have applied to exhume the corpses of 10 Londoners buried more

than 80 years ago to discover the genetic make-up of the world´s most deadly

virus.

 

The bodies, says Britain´s leading flu expert, could help explain why 40

million people died in the 1918 outbreak of " Spanish flu " . Research on them

could help to combat future global epidemics.

 

John Oxford, the Government´s flu adviser, is convinced a highly contagious

and deadly strain of the influenza A virus will strike within a decade. The

last time a type A strain struck Britain, two years ago, 20,000, mainly

elderly, people died, bringing the National Health Service to its knees. A

type B flu hit last year with less effect.

 

Professor Oxford, of Queen Mary´s School of Medicine in London, predicts

another type A flu outbreak this year with a really nasty strain hitting the

planet within 10 years. " We are anticipating a pandemic in the next decade, "

he said yesterday. That makes the race to discover the cause of the 1918

pandemic all the more urgent.

 

After two years´ detective work, trawling through undertakers´ records, his

team has tracked down 10 young people, who died of Spanish flu, buried

across London in lead-lined coffins. The lead will have kept the corpses

preserved, he believes, allowing scientists to examine the corpses and the

genetic code that makes up Spanish flu.

 

The removal of the bodies will have to be done with extreme caution.

Professor Oxford admits there is an outside chance of unleashing Spanish flu

again. " It has to be done very, very carefully, " he said.

 

A previous expedition, two years ago, to dig up the bodies of seven

coal-miners on Spitzbergen, a Norwegian island above the Arctic Circle,

proved only a partial success because the corpses were " cold but not

deep-frozen " .

 

Professor Oxford said: " We got some gene signals coming out from [the

Norwegian corpses] but we suddenly realised we didn´t have to go to the

north pole, we could get a lead-entombed one in London. "

 

Professor Oxford must now trace the relatives of those buried in London to

get permission to dig up the corpses. He will also need authorisation from

the Home Office and cemetery owners.