Guest guest Posted February 16, 1999 Report Share Posted February 16, 1999 From the Fort Worth Star Telegram 2-16-99 Washington - The 1918 flu that killed more than 20 million people may have been quietly percolated for several years, maybe even trading back and forth between pigs and people until suddenly growing strong enough to become the world's worst pandemic. That's the latest theory from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, which reported yesterday that researchers for the first time have completely analyzed a crucial gene from the killer influenza virus. The gene likely " was adapting in humans or in swine for maybe several years before it broke out as a pandemic virus, " said molecular biologist Ann Reid, lead author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But " we can't tell whether it went from pigs into humans or from humans into pigs, " she said. Hmmmmm.....wonder if there are any other diseases out there bouncing back and forth between humans and animals??/ Beverly G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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