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Sequencing the 1918 influenza virus

Over 50 million people died from influenza during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. Scientists dug into Alaska's permafrost to find traces of the virus to help understand its spread

Over 50 million people died from influenza during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. Scientists trying to understand why that particular strain of flu was so virulent, dug into Alaska's permafrost to find traces of it to study. Kate Lamble has been speaking to Dr Jeffery Taubenberger who sequenced the genome of the so-called "Spanish" flu virus.

Photo: an influenza ward in 1918. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

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Wed 25 Mar 2020 04:50GMT
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