@article{867640,
      recid = {867640},
      author = {Webster, Robert G.,},
      title = {Flu hunter : unlocking the secrets of a virus /},
      pages = {1 online resource (222 pages) :},
      abstract = {"When a new influenza virus emerges that is able to be  transmitted between humans, it spreads globally as a  pandemic, often with high mortality. Enormous social  disruption and substantial economic cost can result. The  1918 Spanish influenza pandemic was undoubtedly the most  devastating influenza pandemic to date, and it has been Dr  Robert Webster's life's work to figure out how and why. In  so doing he has made a remarkable contribution to our  understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses and how  to control them. A century on, Flu Hunter is a gripping  account of the tenacious scientific detective work involved  in revealing the secrets of this killer virus. Dubbed `Flu  Hunter' by Smithsonian Magazine in 2006, Dr Webster began  his research in the early 1960s with the insight that the  natural ecology of most influenza viruses is among wild  aquatic birds. Painstaking tracking and testing of  thousands of birds eventually led him and the other  scientists involved to establish a link between these bird  virus `reservoirs' and human influenza pandemics. Some of  this fascinating scientific work involved exhuming bodies  of Spanish flu victims from the Arctic permafrost in a  search for tissue samples containing genetic material from  the virus. Could a global influenza pandemic occur again?  Webster's warning is clear: `... it is not only possible,  it is just a matter of when.' --Publisher.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/867640},
}