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Preparing for a pandemic that never came ended up setting off another − how an accidental virus release triggered 1977’s ‘Russian flu’

  • Written by Donald S. Burke, Dean Emeritus and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Health Science and Policy, and of Epidemiology, at the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
Preparing for a pandemic that never came ended up setting off another − how an accidental virus release triggered 1977’s ‘Russian flu’Vaccine research quickly picked up to try to prevent a possible flu pandemic in 1976.AP Photo

Nineteen-year-old U.S. Army Pvt. David Lewis set out from Fort Dix on a 50-mile hike with his unit on Feb. 5, 1976. On that bitter cold day, he collapsed and died. Autopsy specimens unexpectedly tested positive for an H1N1 swine influenza virus.

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