[Hlth]Bodies to be dug up in war on killer flu

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Just thought I would add something for those into charts,in and around 1917...Uranus was at approximately the same degree and same sign as it is now (Uranus's orbit is approx. 84 years). Around 1917, some of the big news was the influenza epidemic, WWI and something (that I can't remember at the moment) about Israel. *********************************************************

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/science/story.jsp?story=98165

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Bodies to be dug up in war on killer flu By Robert Mendick 07 October 2001 Scientists have applied to exhume the corpses of 10 Londoners buried more than 80 years ago to discover the genetic make-up of the world's most deadly virus.

The bodies, says Britain's leading flu expert, could help explain why 40 million people died in the 1918 outbreak of "Spanish flu". Research on them could help to combat future global epidemics.

John Oxford, the Government's flu adviser, is convinced a highly contagious and deadly strain of the influenza A virus will strike within a decade. The last time a type A strain struck Britain, two years ago, 20,000, mainly elderly, people died, bringing the National Health Service to its knees. A type B flu hit last year with less effect.

Professor Oxford, of Queen Mary's School of Medicine in London, predicts another type A flu outbreak this year with a really nasty strain hitting the planet within 10 years. "We are anticipating a pandemic in the next decade," he said yesterday. That makes the race to discover the cause of the 1918 pandemic all the more urgent.

After two years' detective work, trawling through undertakers' records, his team has tracked down 10 young people, who died of Spanish flu, buried across London in lead-lined coffins. The lead will have kept the corpses preserved, he believes, allowing scientists to examine the corpses and the genetic code that makes up Spanish flu.

The removal of the bodies will have to be done with extreme caution. Professor Oxford admits there is an outside chance of unleashing Spanish flu again."It has to be done very, very carefully," he said.

A previous expedition, two years ago, to dig up the bodies of seven coal-miners on Spitzbergen, a Norwegian island above the Arctic Circle, proved only a partial success because the corpses were "cold but not deep-frozen".

Professor Oxford said: "We got some gene signals coming out from [the Norwegian corpses] but we suddenly realised we didn't have to go to the north pole – we could get a lead-entombed one in London."

Professor Oxford must now trace the relatives of those buried in London to get permission to dig up the corpses. He will also need authorisation from the Home Office and cemetery owners.

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2001


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