Hong Kong flu

Three such pandemics struck in the 20th century, the most serious of which was the 1918—1919 Spanish flu that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including many healthy young adults. It has now been about 40 years since the last pandemic, an outbreak of Hong Kong flu in 1968—1969, and many public heath officials fear that another may occur soon. The Hong... 

The Russian flu of 1889-1890 was the first of the flu pandemics. It killed about 1 million people. The Spanish flu that broke out in 1918-1919 killed over 50 million people worldwide. The Asian flu of 1956-1958 killed about 2 million people before a vaccine was developed in 1957 to contain it. The Hong Kong flu of 1968-1969—so called because it affected 15% of the population of Hong Kong—had a much lower death rate—only about 750,(X)0 people died—because people who had had the Asian flu had some immunity. Because this was the last worldwide pandemic, public health officials worry that another may occur soon. 

Between January 1,2011 and March 2,2011 there were 679 cases of Influenza A (MINI) recorded in Malaysia. Three of the cases resulted in death. In addition to the cases reported by the Malaysian Ministry of Health, Egypt, Indonesia, Cambodia, South Korea and Hong Kong have also reported new cases of the H5N1 vims (avian flu). 

Current worries center on two recent influenza outbreaks. The first, discovered in 1997, is commonly called bird flu the second, found in early 2009, is swine flu. Bird flu is caused by the transfer to humans of an avian H5N1 virus that has killed tens of millions of birds, primarily in Southeast Asia. Human infection by this virus was first noted in Hong Kong in 1997, and by mid 2009, 413 cases with 256 deaths had been confirmed in 16 countries. The virus is transmitted primarily from poultry to humans rather than between humans as of 2009, but the H5N1 strain is highly pathogenic, mutates rapidly, and is able to acquire genes from viruses that infect other animal... 

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