The swine flu epidemic of 1918 1976 and 2009 - info from WIkipedia

The swine flu epidemic of 1918

In the spring of 1918, swine influenza mutated into a severe form in just a few months. Eighty percent of the victims became severely ill and died, while the rest suffered from mild symptoms. In the US, the first deaths were recorded among sailors in Boston in August 1918, and the epidemic quickly spread to all parts of the country. Between the autumn of 1918 and the spring of 1919, 548,452 people died of this flu in the US. In the UK, France and Germany, around 600,000 people died. Worldwide, the number of casualties was between 20 and 50 million, or maybe more. The puzzling fact is that the epidemic erupted almost simultaneously at distant locations, therefore it is likely that the virus was incubated in people with only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Other inexplicable facts are that the disease attacked people in their twenties and thirties, thought to have strong immune systems, and most of the infections were lethal. At the military prison at Deer Island (Massachusetts) in Boston Harbor there was an attempt to develop a vaccine during the 1918 outbreak.

The U.S. swine flu outbreak of 1976
On February 5, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death and that this strain of flu appeared to be closely related to the strain involved in the 1918 flu pandemic. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. President Gerald Ford was confronted with a potential swine flu pandemic. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population was vaccinated by the time the program was cancelled. [11]

There is "enough evidence to suggest that" about 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people was caused by an immunopathological reaction to the vaccine in some people.[11] Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome.[12]

In April 2009, nearly 1,000 cases of swine flu in humans were detected in Mexico, causing more than 60 deaths.[17] The story was broadcast live first in Mexico on 2009-04-23 at around 11 pm and was reported by The Art Dept Chronicles early the next morning. A new swine flu strain has been confirmed in 16 of the deaths and 44 others are being tested as of 24 April 2009.[18] The Mexican cases are said to be mainly young adults, a hallmark of pandemic flu.[19]

On April 24, 2009, schools (from pre-school to university level) were shut down by the government in Mexico City and neighbouring State of Mexico to prevent the disease from spreading further. News sources report the spread as far north as San Diego.[20]

After spreading in Mexico it crossed the border to the U.S., causing eight human cases in Texas and California. The patients have recovered. The acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that preliminary tests on 7 out of 14 samples from patients in Mexico had matched the virus found in the US, which experts say is a new strain of swine flu.[18] Officials believe that human-to-human transmission has been occurring.[20]

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement "Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern" and "WHO acknowledges the United States and Mexico for their proactive reporting and their collaboration with WHO and will continue to work with Member States to further characterize the outbreak".[21]