Notable Events in Influenza History



Here are some key moments in influenza history:


+412 BC: Major epidemic of influenza recorded by Hippocrates
+1781: Major epidemic causing high mortality among the elderly that spread across Russia from Asia
+1830: Major epidemic causing high mortality among the elderly that spread across Russia from Asia
+1889-1890: Major epidemic
+1900: Major epidemic
+1918-1919: Pandemic which killed 20-40 million people around the world; also known as the "Spanish influenza"
+late 1920's: Richard Shope showed that swine influenza could be transmitted through filtered mucous, implying that influenza is caused by a virus
+1933: Sir Christopher Andrewes, Wilson Smith, and Sir Patrick Laidlaw isolated the first human influenza virus
+1940: Frank Macfarlane Burnet grows influenza on a laboratory growth system (embryonated chicken eggs)
+1941: George K. Hirst discovered that influenza caused hemagglutination of red blood cells, thus providing a new method of assaying for the virus
+1955: Sir Christopher Andrewes, along with Burnet and Bang, coins the term "myxovirus" for the influenza family
+1957: Major antigenic shift causes the Asian influenza epidemic
+1968: Major antigenic shift causes the Hong Kong influenza epidemic
+1976: Swine Flu scare
+1977: Mild Russian influenza epidemic
+1988: Wiley, Wilson, and Skehel determine the location of the antigenic sites on the hemagglutinin molecule by X-ray crystallography




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