THE AVIAN CONNECTION: THE 1918-1919 INFLUENZA PANDEMIC

The focus of this paper was to examine the cause of this influenza outbreak and to explain its possible linkage to humans, since human beings live close to poultry and swine breeding facilities. This chain, in a way, poses a great risk of infection among humans. Animals act as reservoirs for this influenza virus and research indicates the influenza virus often originates in the intestines of the aquatic wildfowl. The virus is then shed into the environment where the domestic poultry gets infected. Subsequently this line of infection extends to mammals. The mammals in this chain, usually pigs, act as transformers or converters, creating a strain that can more readily infect humans. Therefore swine can be infected with both avian and human influenza A viruses and serve as a source of infection for a number of species, as the incidence of direct infection from birds to humans have been rare. It was this combination of environmental factors that may have contributed to the greatest pandemic of recent times