What microbe type is the flu?

What microbe type is the flu?

Influenza is caused by infection of the respiratory tract with influenza viruses, RNA viruses of the Orthomyxovirus genus. Influenza viruses are classified into 4 types: A, B, C, and D. Only virus types A and B commonly cause illness in humans.

Was the Spanish flu a zoonotic disease?

Additional sequence was obtained from two recently identified 1918 victims. Influenza is a zoonotic disease, affecting many species of birds and mammals. The HA protein is found on the surface of the influenza virus particle and is responsible for binding to receptors on host cells and initiating infection.

Was the Spanish flu an RNA virus?

The pandemic of 1918 was caused by an H1N1 influenza A virus, which is a negative strand RNA virus; however, little is known about the nature of its direct ancestral strains.

Where did the 1918 flu come from?

The first confirmed cases originated in the United States. Historian Alfred W. Crosby stated in 2003 that the flu originated in Kansas, and author John M. Barry described a January 1918 outbreak in Haskell County, Kansas, as the point of origin in his 2004 article.

When did Spanish Flu end?

February 1918 – April 1920
Spanish flu/Periods

Are Spanish flu and swine flu the same thing?

When humans became infected with the 1918 pandemic flu, which was originally a bird flu, we also passed it on to pigs. “One branch of the 1918 flu permanently adapted to pigs and became swine influenza that was seen in pigs in the US every year after 1918 and spread around the world,” says Taubenberger.

How long is flu B contagious?

When Flu Spreads Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms develop and up to 5 to 7 days after becoming sick. Children and some people with weakened immune systems may pass the virus for longer than 7 days.

What was the cause of the Spanish flu?

The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.Lasting from February 1918 to April 1920, it infected 500 million people – about a third of the world’s population at the time – in four successive waves.

How many people died from the Spanish flu in 1918?

Pathogenesis of the 1918 Pandemic Influenza Virus. Prostrating vast numbers of victims worldwide with severe pneumonia, which often progressed to a fatal outcome, the “Spanish flu” caused an estimated 20–50 million deaths worldwide [1]. The resultant 1918 pandemic was one of the most formidable foes faced by humankind.

What was the pathogenicity of the influenza virus in 1918?

To derive a molecular mechanism of pathogenicity for the 1918 virus, the reconstructed 1918 virus was characterized in mouse and non-human primate models –. In the infected animals, the 1918 virus replicated to high levels and spread rapidly throughout the respiratory tract.

Where did the third wave of the Spanish flu hit?

Third wave of 1919 In January 1919, a third wave of the Spanish Flu hit Australia, where it killed around 12,000 people following the lifting of a maritime quarantine, and then spread quickly through Europe and the United States, where it lingered through the spring and until June 1919.