News like this report from Reuters this evening will likely spur some additional requests this week and next for the Museum's collections of photos related to the influenza pandemics of the early 20th century.
"Researchers have found out what made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly -- a group of three genes that lets the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia. They mixed samples of the 1918 influenza strain with modern seasonal flu viruses to find the three genes and said their study might help in the development of new flu drugs."
So be on the lookout for mentions of Camp Funston, everyone. You might see one of our photos gracing a newspaper near you.
Want to know more? The Museum had a temporary show on influenza (back in 1997, the exhibit, not the pandemic) and there's a virtual exhibit here.
2 comments:
I survived the flu epidemic at Camp Funston. I have begun posting the letters exchanged with my sweetheart back in 1918-1919. Should you be interested in following along and commenting on them, you'll find them posted at http://griff-wjg.blogspot.com/
Now, I'm not sure how to take this - Mr Griffing would be 112 this year (and his blogspot profile admits that) so he's obviously not the one doing the posting. So are the letters real? If so, this is an interesting biography project, but...
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