Also, wikipedia on pandemic states this about flu:
- The Greek physician Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", first described influenza in 412 BC.[62]
- The first influenza pandemic was recorded in 1580 and since then influenza pandemics occurred every 10 to 30 years.[63][64][65]
- The "Asiatic Flu", 1889–1890, was first reported in May 1889 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. By October, it had reached Tomsk and the Caucasus. It rapidly spread west and hit North America in December 1889, South America in February–April 1890, India in February-March 1890, and Australia in March–April 1890. It was purportedly caused by the H2N8 type of flu virus. It had a very high attack and mortality rate. About 1 million people died in this pandemic."[66]
- The "Spanish flu", 1918–1919. First identified early in March 1918 in US troops training at Camp Funston, Kansas. By October 1918, it had spread to become a world-wide pandemic on all continents, and eventually infected an estimated one third of the world's population (or ≈500 million persons).[67] Unusually deadly and virulent, it ended nearly as quickly as it began, vanishing completely within 18 months. In six months, some 50 million were dead;[67] some estimates put the total of those killed worldwide at over twice that number.[68] An estimated 17 million died in India, 675,000 in the United States[69] and 200,000 in the UK. The virus was recently reconstructed by scientists at the CDC studying remains preserved by the Alaskan permafrost. They identified it as a type of H1N1 virus.[citation needed]
- The "Asian Flu", 1957–58. An H2N2 virus caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late February 1957, the Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957. It caused about 2 million deaths globally.[70]
- The "Hong Kong Flu", 1968–69. An H3N2 caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States. This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968, and spread to the United States later that year. This pandemic of 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people worldwide.[71] Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today.