Timeline of influenza

This is a timeline of influenza, briefly describing major events such as outbreaks, epidemics, pandemics, discoveries and developments of vaccines. In addition to specific year/period-related events, there's the seasonal flu that kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people every year, and has claimed between 340 million and 1 billion human lives throughout history.^[1][2]

Big Picture

Year/period	Key developments
Prior to 20th century	Little is known about influenza during most of history. Although the virus seems to have caused epidemics throughout human history, historical data on influenza are difficult to interpret, because the symptoms can be similar to those of other respiratory diseases.[3][4]
20th Century	Century of flu pandemics, starting with the deadly Spanish flu, it's also the period of virus isolation and development of vaccines.
1945-21th century	International health organizations merge, and large scale vaccination campaigns begin.[5]
21th century	Worldwide accessible databases multiply in order to control outbreaks and prevent pandemics. New influenza strain outbreaks still occur. Efficacy of currently available vaccines is still insufficient to diminish the current annual health burden induced by the virus.[5]

Full timeline

Year/period	Type of event	Event	Geographical location
400 BCE	Discovery	The symptoms of human influenza are described by Hippocrates.[6][7]
1580	Outbreak	First convincing record of an influenza pandemic in an outbreak which begins in Russia.[4]	Russia, Europe, Africa.
1878	Discovery	Avian influenza is recorded for the first time. Originally known as Fowl Plague.[8]	Italy
1901	Breakthrough	First isolation of influenza virus, from poultry.[9]
1918-1919	Crisis	The Spanish flu (H1N1) pandemic is considered one of the deadliest natural disasters ever, infecting an estimated 500 million people across the globe and claiming between 50 and 100 million lives. This pandemic has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" and may have killed as many people as the Black Death.[10][11]	Worldwide; originated in France (disputed)
1931	Discovery	American virologist Richard Shope discovers the etiological cause of influenza in pigs.[12]
1933	Breakthrough	British researchers Wilson Smith, Christopher Andrews, and Patrick Laidlaw are the first to identify the human flu virus by experimenting with ferrets.[13][14]	United Kingdom (Medical Research Council)
1945	Policy	The first license to produce an influenza vaccine for civilian use is granted in the United States.[15]	U.S.A.
1946	Organization (health institute)	The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in order to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of diseases. The CDC will launch campaigns targeting the transmission of influenza, including the H1N1 swine flu.[16]	U.S.A.
1947	Organization	The World Medical Association (WMA) is formed as an international confederation of free professional medical associations. Like the CDC, the WMA will launch Influenza Immunization Campaigns.[17]	France, worldwide
1948	Organization	The World Health Organization (WHO) is established.[18]
1952	Organization (Research institute)	The WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) is established with the purpose of creating a worldwide network of laboratories in order to collaborate and monitor influenza viruses.[19]	Worldwide
1957-1958	Crisis	Asian Influenza H2N2 pandemic originates in China. 1 to 4 million deaths.[20]	Worldwide
1968-1969	Crisis	Hong Kong flu (H3N2) pandemic. Still circulates toward the 21th century. 1 to 4 million deaths.[21]
1976	Crisis	Swine flu outbreak is identified at U.S. army base in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Four soldiers infected resulting in one death. To prevent a major pandemic, the United States launches a vaccination campaign.[21][22]	New Jersey (U.S.A.)
1977	Crisis	Russian flu (H1N1) epidemic. New influenza strain in humans. Isolated in northern China. A similar strain prevalent in 1947–57 causes most adults to have substantial immunity. This outbreak is not considered a pandemic because most patients are children.[21][22]	Russia, China, worldwide
1988	Outbreak	Influenza A virus subtype H1N2 is isolated from humans in six cities in China, but the virus does not spread further.[23]	China
1990-1996	Discovery	Oseltamivir (often referenced by its trademark name Tamiflu) is discovered by Gilead Sciences, using shikimic acid for synthesis. It is widely used in further antiviral campaigns targeting influenza A and B. Included on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[24]	U.S.A.
1997	Crisis	Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 (also known as bird flu) is discovered in humans. The first time an influenza virus is found to be transmitted directly from birds to people. Eighteen people hospitalized, six of whom die. No pandemics.[21][25]	Hong Kong
1997	Outbreak	Highly pathogenic Influenza A virus subtype H7N4 strain causes a minor flu outbreak in chicken.[26]	Australia
1999	Outbreak	New influenza strain (H9N2) in humans. It causes illness in two children in Hong Kong, with poultry being the probable source. No pandemics.[21][22]	Hong Kong
2002	Infection	Appearance of a new influenza strain (H7N2) in humans. This subtype is one of several sometimes called bird flu virus. No deaths reported.[21]	Virginia (U.S.A.)
2003	Crisis	Appearance of a new influenza strain (H5N1) in humans. Three people infected, one death.[21]	China
2003	Crisis	First reported case of H7N7 strain in humans. 88 people infected, one death.[21]	Netherlands
2003	Infection	H7N2 type infects one person. Fully recovered.[21]	New York City (U.S.A.)
2004	Organization (scientific project)	The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project is launched to investigate influenza evolution by providing a public data set of complete influenza genome sequences from collections of isolates representing diverse species distributions. Funded by the NIAID.[27]
2004	Infection	First case of type H7N3 in humans. Two people infected, fully recovered.[28]	North America
2004	Infection	First case of type H10N7 in humans. Two children infected.[29]	Egypt
2005	Organization (campaign)	United States President George W. Bush unveils the National Strategy to Safeguard Against the Danger of Pandemic Influenza. US$1 billion for the production and stockpile of oseltamivir are requested after Congress approves $1.8 billion for military use of the drug.[30][31]	U.S.A.
2006	Conference	The International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Influenza is held Beijing. Co-hosted by the Chinese Government, the European Commission and the World Bank. The purpose is to raise funds for international cooperation in the prevention and control of avian and human influenza.[32]	Beijing
2008	Scientific project	OpenFluDB is launched as a database for human and animal influenza virus. It's used to collect, manage, store and distribute worldwide influenza data.[33]	Worldwide
2008	Service launch	Google launches web service Google Flu Trends in order to provide estimates of influenza activity for more than 25 countries to predict outbreaks of flu.[34]	Worldwide
2009	Crisis	New flu virus (H1N1) pandemic, first recognized in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, spreads quickly across the United States and the world, prompting a strong global public reaction. Overseas flights are discouraged from government health bodies.[35] Worldwide, nearly 1 billion doses of H1N1 vaccine are ordered.[36] A total of 74 countries are affected. 18,500 deaths.[22]	Worldwide
2012	Discovery	A 2012 meta-analysis finds that flu shots are efficacious 67 percent of the time.[37]
2012	Scientific project/controversy	American virologists Ron Fouchier and Yoshihiro Kawaoka intentionally develop a strain based on H5N1 for which no vaccine exists, causing outrage in both the media and scientific community.[38][39][40]	Netherlands (Erasmus Medical Center) U.S.A. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
2013	Crisis	The A(H7N9) virus subtype, a low pathogenic AI virus, breaks out in China. As of April 11, 2014, the outbreak's overall total reaches 419 people, including 7 in Hong Kong, and the unofficial number of deaths reaches 127.[41][42]	China, Vietnam

See also

• Influenza
• Timeline of global health

References

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