An avian flue virus passed to the pigs and then to people.
Steve
Stona and Mike, looks like you're onto something. And, as if that isn't enough, the Spanish Flu might've come directly from Birds as well. Here's a cutout from Wiki:
"Pandemic flu viruses have some avian flu virus genes and usually some human flu virus genes. Both the H2N2 and H3N2 pandemic strains contained genes from avian influenza viruses. The new subtypes arose in pigs coinfected with avian and human viruses and were soon transferred to humans. Swine were considered the original "intermediate host" for influenza, because they supported reassortment of divergent subtypes. However, other hosts appear capable of similar coinfection (e.g., many poultry species), and direct transmission of avian viruses to humans is possible.[10] The Spanish flu virus strain may have been transmitted directly from birds to humans."
The reference to the last line in the above paragraph is linked in below:
Influenza Book | Avian Influenza
While it says there was an Avian flu that migrated to Humans, called "Lombardian Disease" (identified in the late 1800s) because it centered in the Po Valley, it was not a pathogen to it's Avian host (wild water fowl) but affected humans (think about that the next time you have Fois Gras).
All that being said, I kinda doubt the Lombardian Disease was THE variation of the Spanish Flu we've been posting about and am more inclined to go with Mike's perspective of it being something that came from the Orient. For no better reason than the odds of it happening are highest in that realm and the large number of Oriental based troops that were running around France in 1914-1918.
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