Hong Kong flu: A pandemic of influenza A (H3N2) in 1968-69. After infecting millions of people worldwide, the 1918 flu strain shifted—and then stuck around. Dr. Ed Belongia is an infectious disease epidemiologist with the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Wisconsin. But every so often, viral genes from the animal kingdom enter the mix. Travellers who arrive in, or transit through, Hong Kong and have flu-like symptoms may be sent to a public hospital. GARCIA-NAVARRO: How likely is it going to be that that could happen with COVID-19, that we could get some kind of immunity but that it could come back seasonally? And that requires frequent updates to the flu vaccine strains. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Hong Kong Flu (1968 Influenza Pandemic) The 1968 influenza pandemic (the "Hong Kong flu") was a category 2 flu pandemic whose outbreak in 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people worldwide. It was first noted in the United States in September 1968. HONG KONG, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's food safety authority decided on Friday to suspend the import of poultry meat and products from bird flu-affected areas in Germany and Sweden. The entire stock of a pig farm in Hong Kong has been ordered to be culled after a rare outbreak of African swine fever was detected in the Chinese autonomous region. The last thing anybody needs is to get infected with both COVID and flu. While the disease is deadly for pigs, it does not affect humans. The virus was isolated in Queen Mary Hospital. Hong Kong's Department of Health checks for MERS-CoV at border control points. It gradually became adapted more and more to be able to spread efficiently in humans, even in the presence of immunity because, of course, after the pandemic, then a lot of the population did, in fact, have some immunity to that strain. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. It's true, but that flu was different. Hong Kong is taking rigorous action in various areas to contain the spread of COVID-19. the hong kong flu outbreak in 1968 Between one and four million people were killed during the Hong Kong flu outbreak in 1968, figures estimate. BELONGIA: Some important similarities between COVID-19 and flu that will be important is that social distancing and mask use will serve a dual benefit by reducing the risk of both diseases. Swine flu. BELONGIA: Thank you, Lulu. “We’re still living in what I would call the ‘1918 pandemic era’ 102 years later” says Taubenberger, “and I don’t know how long it will last.”. Welcome. Why the Second Wave of the 1918 'Spanish Flu' Was So Deadly, Innovative Ways People Tried to Protect Themselves From the Flu, 5 Hard-Earned Lessons From Past Pandemics. That day, The New York Times reported on a large … Hong Kong memantau Jerman dan Swedia menjadi daerah yang terkena imbas flu burung. Also known as Hong Kong influenza. And watch all of "Five Flus" examining the COVID-19 outbreak, Spanish flu (1918), the Asian flu (1957), the Hong Kong flu (1967-68) and the swine flu … But the Hong Kong flu is still with us as a seasonal malady.I am just old enough to remember the Hong Kong flu. The 1968 pandemic was caused by an influenza A (H3N2) virus comprised of two genes from an avian influenza A virus, including a new H3 hemagglutinin, but also contained the N2 neuraminidase from the 1957 H2N2 virus. Spanish Flu (1918-1919) The Spanish Flu of 1918 is considered the deadliest in history, infecting 1/3 … The claim: During the Hong Kong flu businesses stayed open and events like Woodstock were still held. BELONGIA: Well, H3N2 was a virus that never circulated in people before 1968, and the flu viruses are unusual in the sense that different viruses can recombine. An Influenza A virus (H3N2) outbreak in China led to the flu pandemic of 1968, also known as the “Hong Kong Flu.” It started in 1968 and lasted until 1969-70. The Hong Kong flu was the first known outbreak of the H3N2 strain, but there is serologic evidence of H3N1 infections in the late 19th century. The shift occurred in 1968 with the Hong Kong flu pandemic, when a new type of virus swept away the virus that had dominated before. Viboud C, Grais RF, Lafont BA, Miller MA, Simonsen L; Grupo multinacional de estudio sobre la mortalidad por la influenza estacional. Alternative Titles: Asian flu of 1957, Asian flu pandemic of 1957 1957 flu pandemic, also called Asian flu pandemic of 1957 or Asian flu of 1957, outbreak of influenza that was first identified in February 1957 in East Asia and that subsequently spread to countries worldwide. The most recent influenza pandemic occurred in 1968 with the Hong Kong Flu (H3N2) outbreak, which resulted in nearly 34,000 deaths in the United States. All 3 have been informally identified by their presumed sites of origin as Spanish, Asian, and Hong Kong influenza, respectively. And then I guess I would also just say that the one thing that we know for sure is that it will be possible to get a flu vaccine before you can get a COVID-19 vaccine. He joins me now. And so in order to be protected against those new strains, we really encourage people to get the flu vaccine and get it as soon as possible in the fall so that they're protected from that. The fact that there were 41 years between the 1968 pandemic — known as the Hong Kong flu — and the 2009 pandemic doesn’t mean the next will take another 30 years or so to materialize. All Rights Reserved. Deaths: 200,000 • Cause: H1N1. But did the 1918 flu simply “go away” after that third wave? READ MORE: See all pandemic coverage here. In March and April, a localized outbreak of influenza A in the middle Atlantic states was reported. And that's what happened in 1968. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The so-called “Swine Flu” pandemic of 2009 has an even deeper backstory. It's more important now than ever because of the fact that we're going to be dealing with two very serious pathogens. Just how much so can be seen if we look back at how the U.S. — and indeed the world — handled the now largely forgotten 1968–’69 Hong Kong flu … The number of deaths caused by the 1957–1958 pandemic is estimated between one and four million worldwide, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. And there are flu viruses that circulate in wild birds, many different types of flu viruses. “The 1918 flu definitely lost its real virulence by the early 1920s,” says Taubenberger. J Infect Dis. But at this point, it's too early to really make any predictions, I think. And even today, these viruses mutate faster than other flu strains. 1968 flu pandemic, also called Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1968 or Hong Kong flu of 1968, global outbreak of influenza that originated in China in July 1968 and lasted until 1969–70. The latter 2 were in the era of modern virology and most thoroughly characterized. This pandemic of 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people worldwide. Hong Kong flu was one of the famous influenza pandemics in history. The Hong Kong flu has largely spared the United States so far this winter and experts are pre dicting there will be no epi demic. Three worldwide (pandemic) outbreaks of influenza occurred in the 20th century: in 1918, 1957, and 1968. 2005 Jul 15;192(2):233-48. The subsequent 1968 influenza pandemic—or “Hong Kong flu” or “Mao flu” as some western tabloids dubbed it—would have an even more dramatic impact, killing more than 30 000 individuals in the UK and 100 000 people in the USA, with half the deaths among individuals younger than 65 years—the reverse of COVID-19 deaths in the current pandemic. Hong Kong receives its pigs from mainland China, which saw its pig farms ravaged by the African swine flu in 2018 and 2019. People born before 1968 had likely been exposed as … It was first reported in Singapore in February 1957, Hong Kong in April 1957, and in coastal cities in the United States in summer 1957. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Dr. Ed Belongia is an infectious disease epidemiologist with the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute. And if those recombine with a human strain, that can lead to a new pandemic virus that people are not immune to. And so we're hopeful that the same measures that are needed to control COVID-19 will also be beneficial in reducing the severity of the flu season. For 7 weeks pneumonia and influenza mortality exceeded the epidemic threshold for this area. That’s what happened in 1957 when the 1918 flu, which is an H1N1 virus, swapped genes with another bird flu giving us the H2N2 pandemic, which claimed a million lives worldwide. Amongst other things, it protects Hong Kong’s capitalist system, prescribes the independence of the judiciary and the press, and gives a vague intention to move the SAR towards democracy—at least in theory. Questionnaire (from Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong) on Use of 2D and 3D diagnostic imaging and associated risks : Government Vaccination Programme - Prevent Flu Get Vaccination : FDI Policy Statements 2018 All rights reserved. Just how much so can be seen if we look back at how the U.S. — and indeed the world — handled the now largely forgotten 1968–’69 Hong Kong flu … The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the Hong Kong Special … A crane lifts culled pigs into a container on a farm where … Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. But scientists and doctors say the Hong Kong flu is a more apt comparison. BELONGIA: It will become seasonal, most likely, unless there's permanent immunity, but we don't really know if there's permanent immunity or not. 1968 was a year of protests and social unrest. In the United States, the 1918 flu pandemic lowered the average life expectancy by 12 years. The slope k was found to be ～2 for the Spanish flu during 1918-1920 and the Asian flu during 1957-1958, and ～1 for the Hong Kong flu and seasonal influenza prior to 1960-1961; however, k was ～0.6 for seasonal influenza after 1960-1961. When the “Hong Kong” flu struck the U.S. in 1968, brought in by troops returning from Vietnam, the Dow lost more than 13.24%. The influenza pandemic killed upwards of 50 million people worldwide, including … 1968 Hong Kong Flu. READ MORE: 5 Hard-Earned Lessons From Past Pandemics. This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread to the United States later that year. A decade later, a reassorted viral strain H3N2 further caused the Hong Kong flu pandemic (1968-1969). The outbreak was the third influenza pandemic to occur in the 20th century; it followed the 1957 flu pandemic and the influenza pandemic of 1918–19. “The Hong Kong Flu (H3N2) of 1968, killed 1 million worldwide, and 100,000 in the US, most excess deaths being in people 65+ (via the CDC)," a viral tweet said earlier this month. The 1918 flu pandemic was by far the deadliest flu outbreak of the 20th and 21st centuries to date, but it wasn’t the only one to qualify as a pandemic. Those later flu outbreaks, all created in part by the 1918 virus, claimed millions of additional lives, earning the 1918 flu the odious title of “the mother of all pandemics.”, LISTEN: HISTORY This Week: The Deadliest Pandemic in Modern History, WATCH: The 1918 Flu Was Deadlier Than WWI. This H2N2 virus was comprised of three different genes from an H2N2 virus that originated from an avian influenza A virus, including the H2 hemagglutinin and the N2 neuraminidase genes. On April 17, 1957, Maurice Hilleman realized a pandemic was on its way to the United States. But my family lived down the road from Travis Air Force Base in the Bay Area, the main return point for soldiers coming home from Vietnam in the fall of 1968. The Hong Kong Flu originated in Hong Kong. GARCIA-NAVARRO: How does the Hong Kong flu compare to COVID-19? 1968 was a year of protests and social unrest. After infecting an estimated 500 million people worldwide in 1918 and 1919 (a third of the global population), the H1N1 strain that caused the Spanish flu receded into the background and stuck around as the regular seasonal flu. Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News Collection/Chicago History Museum/Getty Images. Lab tests of the reconstructed 1918 virus show that in its original form, the virus’s novel encoded proteins made it 100 times more lethal in mice than today’s seasonal flu. But what’s truly incredible, according to genetic analyses, is that the same novel strain of flu first introduced in 1918 appears to be the direct ancestor of every seasonal and pandemic flu we’ve had over the past century. I mean, do we know? Pusat Keamanan Pangan (CFS) dari Departemen Makanan dan Kebersihan Lingkungan Pemerintah Daerah Administratif Khusus (HKSAR) Hong Kong mengatakan, keputusan tersebut berdasarkan pemberitahuan dari Organisasi Dunia untuk Kesehatan Hewan (OIE). Since the whole world had been exposed to the virus, and had therefore developed natural immunity against it, the 1918 strain began to mutate and evolve in a process called “antigenic drift.” Slightly altered versions of the 1918 flu reemerged in the winters of 1919-1920 and 1920-1921, but they were far less deadly and nearly indistinguishable from the seasonal flu. The hospital will isolate the person until they test negative for MERS-CoV. And they believed that those two are related. Spanish flu: 1918. The death toll from the Hong Kong flu was comparable with the 1957 Asian flu pandemic that killed 1.1 million worldwide . It was also the year of a strain of the flu that started in Hong Kong that spread and killed nearly a … Even with the advent of the first seasonal flu vaccines after World War II, the flu virus has proven capable of some unexpected and deadly genetic tricks. This flu resulted in about 30,000 deaths. The Hong Kong flu also arrived at a particularly volatile moment in history. And as more and more people become infected or hopefully get vaccinated and develop immunity, then we will see what sort of effects that has on the virus and whether or not we see any changes. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with epidemiologist Ed Belongia about the Hong Kong flu that's still circulating today, and what it can teach us about the coronavirus pandemic. Externo The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. The Hong Kong SAR is defined by the Basic Law signed between Britain and China in the run-up to the Hong Kong Handover in 1997. (SOUNDBITE OF THRUPENCE'S "RINSE REPEAT"). All told, if 50 to 100 million people died in the 1918 and 1919 pandemic, and tens of millions more have died in the ensuing century of seasonal flus and pandemic outbreaks, then all of those deaths can be attributed to the single and accidental emergence in humans of the very successful and stubborn 1918 virus. Hong Kong receives its pigs from mainland China, which saw its pig farms ravaged by the African swine flu in 2018 and 2019. PHOTOS: Innovative Ways People Tried to Protect Themselves From the Flu, “If one animal is infected with two different influenza viruses at the same time,” says Taubenberger, “maybe one virus from a bird and another from a human, those genes can mix and match to create a brand new virus that never existed before.”. The fever is highly contagious and deadly to the animals, but is … That specific strain still comes back during the flu season, though it's not as lethal. What’s even more remarkable about the 1918 flu, say infectious disease experts, is that it never really went away. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! When humans became infected with the 1918 pandemic flu, which was originally a bird flu, we also passed it on to pigs. In a normal flu season, vaccine scientists can track the most active viral strains and produce a vaccine that protects against changes in the human flu virus from year to year. The H3N2 strain was responsible. Accuracy and availability may vary. More information: Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection The Hong Kong Flu was a category 2 flu pandemic caused by a strain of H3N2 descended from H2N2 by antigenic shift, in which genes from multiple subtypes reassorted to form a new virus. The final wave swept across Australia, the United States and Europe in the late winter and spring of 1919. Absolutely not, says Taubenberger. GARCIA-NAVARRO: So can you first tell us why that strain of the flu, H3N2, became so deadly? The Hong Kong Flu began on July 13, 1968. The 1918 pandemic struck in three distinct waves over a 12-month period. What do we know about it? It first appeared in the spring of 1918 in North America and Europe largely in the trenches of World War I, then reemerged in its deadliest form in the fall of 1918, killing tens of millions of people worldwide from September through November. Jeffrey Taubenberger was part of the pioneering scientific team that first isolated and sequenced the genome of the 1918 flu virus in the late 1990s. We know that historically. It happened again in 1968 with the creation of the so-called “Hong Kong Flu,” an H3N2 virus that killed another million people. “Every single human infection with influenza A in the past 102 years is derived from that one introduction of the 1918 flu.”. In 2009, a strain of swine flu swapped genes with both human influenza and avian influenza to create a new variety of H1N1 flu that was “more like 1918 than had been seen in a long time,” says Taubenberger. And because it happened in recent times—unlike the more devastating and better remembered Spanish Flu … Pemusnahan 3.000 ekor babi dilakukan setelah ada temuan flu babi Afrika untuk pertama kalinya di Hong Kong. The 1968 Hong Kong flu pandemic (caused by the H3N2 virus) killed 100,000 Americans and 1 million people worldwide virus was spread in the US by troops returning home from Vietnam War And it's very important this season for people to get a flu vaccine. “One branch of the 1918 flu permanently adapted to pigs and became swine influenza that was seen in pigs in the US every year after 1918 and spread around the world,” says Taubenberger. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. “You can still find the genetic traces of the 1918 virus in the seasonal flus that circulate today,” says Taubenberger. Non-Hong Kong residents from overseas arriving by plane are currently denied entry to Hong Kong; those from the Mainland, Macao and Taiwan are also denied entry if they have been to any overseas countries and regions in the past 14 days. But every so often, direct descendants of the 1918 flu combined with bird flu or swine flu to create powerful new pandemic strains, which is exactly what happened in 1957, 1968 and 2009. Hong Kong is the place to be if you're irrationally terrified of catching swine flu. BELONGIA: What we did learn from from 1968 is that pandemic virus became a seasonal virus. The Hong Kong flu varies greatly in severity between different populations and areas of the world. If this is an H3N2 season, it will be more severe. Copyright © 2020 NPR. HONG KONG (XINHUA) - Hong Kong's food safety authority decided on Friday (Feb 19) to suspend the import of poultry meat and products from bird flu … It happened again in 1968 with the creation of the so-called “Hong Kong Flu,” an H3N2 virus that killed another million people. Impacto multinacional de la pandemia de influenza 1968 en Hong Kong: evidencia de una pandemia latente. Influenza B strains isolated in the 1973-1974 season were similar to B/Hong Kong/5/72, B/Victoria/98926/70, and strains intermediate between the 2. During the worst times of this epidemic, the Dow decreased by a bit more than 21%. A man receives a shave from a barber wearing a mask during the ongoing flu pandemic, Chicago, Illinois, 1918. And this year, the flu vaccine will have three new strains. READ MORE: Why the Second Wave of the 1918 'Spanish Flu' Was So Deadly. where it caused about 34,000 deaths, making it the mildest pandemic in the 20th century. The subsequent 1968 influenza pandemic—or “Hong Kong flu” or “Mao flu” as some western tabloids dubbed it—would have an even more dramatic impact, killing more than 30 000 individuals in the UK and 100 000 people in the USA, with half the deaths among individuals younger than 65 years—the reverse of COVID-19 deaths in the current pandemic. An unthinkable 50 to 100 million people worldwide died from the 1918-1919 flu pandemic commonly known as the “Spanish Flu.” It was the deadliest global pandemic since the Black Death, and rare among flu viruses for striking down the young and healthy, often within days of exhibiting the first symptoms. It was also the year of a strain of the flu that started in Hong Kong that spread and killed nearly a million people worldwide and 100,000 here in the United States. Around 300,000 people died from the 2009 flu pandemic. Appreciate it. GARCIA-NAVARRO: What should we be looking out for in the fall when, potentially, there'll be flu and COVID-19 circulating? From the flu's start to its end in 1969, the Dow fell 13.24%. The painstaking process involved extracting viral RNA from autopsied lung samples taken from American soldiers who died from the 1918 flu, plus one diseased lung preserved in the Alaskan permafrost for nearly 100 years. Otoritas Hong Kong memerintahkan untuk memusnahkan semua 3.000 ekor babi yang berada di peternakan di daerah pedesaan Yuen Long, utara dekat perbatasan dengan China. But it continued to cause seasonal infections because the immunity was not long-lasting and because the viruses continued to mutate. Like the majority of those infected, I didn’t get sick. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. H3N2 (or the “Hong Kong flu,” as it was more popularly known) was an influenza strain that the New York Times described as “one of the worst … And in fact, there was just a study published from Taiwan where they found a substantial reduction in serious flu cases this past winter after they instituted a nationwide policy of mask use. Thank you very much. So what lessons can we take from that pandemic to move forward in this one about how COVID-19 will behave? Named Hong Kong flu because it originated in the then British colony, and known formally as H3N2, the strain infected about 500,000 residents of Hong Kong, or 15 per cent of the population. And we can at least protect against one of those right now. Now chief of the Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Taubenberger explains that genetic analyses of the 1918 flu indicate that it started as an avian flu and represented a completely new viral strain when it made the leap to humans shortly before 1918.