An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic
The 1918 Influenza pandemic was one of the most virulent strains of influenza in history. This strain quickly dispatched previously held theories on influenza. World War One introduced new environmental stresses and speed of dissemination logistics never experienced by humans. In light of new phylog...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Ivyspring International Publisher
2005
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1145139/ |
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pubmed-11451392005-06-17 An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic Hollenbeck, James E. Short Research Communication The 1918 Influenza pandemic was one of the most virulent strains of influenza in history. This strain quickly dispatched previously held theories on influenza. World War One introduced new environmental stresses and speed of dissemination logistics never experienced by humans. In light of new phylogenic evidence the cause of this influenza outbreak is now being considered to have linkage to the avian influenza. Animals act as reservoirs for this influenza virus and research indicates the influenza virus often originates in the intestines of aquatic wildfowl. The virus is shed into the environment, which in turns infects domestic poultry, which in turn infects mammalian hosts. These animals, usually pigs, act as a transformer or converters; creating a strain that can more readily infect humans. Therefore swine can be infected with both avian and human influenza A viruses and serve as a source for infection for a number of species as the incidents of direct infection from birds to humans have been rare. Increased human habitation near poultry and swine raising facilities pose greater influenza outbreak risk. It was this combination of environmental factors that may have contributed to the greatest pandemic of recent times, and, moreover, similar conditions exist throughout Southeast Asia today. Ivyspring International Publisher 2005-05-15 /pmc/articles/PMC1145139/ /pubmed/15968345 Text en © Ivyspring International Publisher. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0) which permits the distribution and reproduction for non-commercial purposes, provided that the article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited. |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Hollenbeck, James E. |
| spellingShingle |
Hollenbeck, James E. An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic |
| author_facet |
Hollenbeck, James E. |
| author_sort |
Hollenbeck, James E. |
| title |
An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic |
| title_short |
An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic |
| title_full |
An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic |
| title_fullStr |
An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed |
An Avian Connection as a Catalyst to the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic |
| title_sort |
avian connection as a catalyst to the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic |
| description |
The 1918 Influenza pandemic was one of the most virulent strains of influenza in history. This strain quickly dispatched previously held theories on influenza. World War One introduced new environmental stresses and speed of dissemination logistics never experienced by humans. In light of new phylogenic evidence the cause of this influenza outbreak is now being considered to have linkage to the avian influenza. Animals act as reservoirs for this influenza virus and research indicates the influenza virus often originates in the intestines of aquatic wildfowl. The virus is shed into the environment, which in turns infects domestic poultry, which in turn infects mammalian hosts. These animals, usually pigs, act as a transformer or converters; creating a strain that can more readily infect humans. Therefore swine can be infected with both avian and human influenza A viruses and serve as a source for infection for a number of species as the incidents of direct infection from birds to humans have been rare. Increased human habitation near poultry and swine raising facilities pose greater influenza outbreak risk. It was this combination of environmental factors that may have contributed to the greatest pandemic of recent times, and, moreover, similar conditions exist throughout Southeast Asia today. |
| publisher |
Ivyspring International Publisher |
| publishDate |
2005 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1145139/ |
| _version_ |
1611375280371269632 |