It was terrible, killing millions.
Where has it gone? Is it still around?
In: Biology
We did not have the reasearch tools at the time to track the lineage of the virus. We did not even properly know about viruses at that time. And virus samples do not last long. But we are pretty certain that it was a variant of the H1N1 and closely related to the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It may in fact be one of the first variants of this virus to infect humans which might explain its deadlieness. There are lots of variants of the H1N1 virus infecting both humans and pigs and potentially other animals as well. We do not know which developed from the 1917 influenza specifically or even if all of them did. Most of these only give mild symptoms which is why they have been able to stick around as long and is one of the viruses that give seasonal influenza. However other variants can be quite deadly but this also means that they tend to be controlled rather quickly, if not by the authorities then by the sick themselves staying home and isolating.
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