The relationship of the 1918 virus with avian influenza viruses is further supported by recent work in which the 1918 hemagglutinin (HA) protein crystal structure was resolved. This finding supports the hypotheses that (1) the pandemic virus contains genes derived from avian-like influenza virus strains and that (2) the 1918 virus is the common ancestor of human and classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the completed 1918 influenza virus genes shows them to be the most avian-like among the mammalian-adapted viruses.
Using fixed and frozen lung tissue of 1918 influenza victims, the complete genomic sequence of the 1918 influenza virus has been deduced. The “Spanish” influenza pandemic of 1918–19 caused acute illness in 25–30 percent of the world’s population and resulted in the death of up to an estimated 40 million people.
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