2004: Russian scientist predicted 1 bn. deaths from swine flu

[jose v]

A Russian scientist predicted the deadly swine flu pandemic back in 2004, when he said the deadly bird flu was likely to mix with the human flu virus in the organism of a pig MosNews reports.
Speaking at a conference in October 2004, professor Dmitry Lvov of the Virology Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences said a flu pandemic would kill up to one billion people within six months, Newsru.com reports.


Lvov said the pandemic was possible in 2005 or any of the five following years.

"We have already seen existing flu viruses generate a new one that has caused a pandemic. There is just half a step before the global pandemic catastrophe," he said.


Mankind has finally become aware that the financial crisis is not the most dangerous thing in the world. The world has come across a new danger - the swine flu virus. Many explain yesterday's reduction of stock markets with the threat of the epidemic of the new disease Pravda.Ru reports.

The struggle against the distribution of the new virus has made a number of countries ban the imports of pork. Russia introduced a ban too.

Swine flu has become the most talked-about subject in only a couple of days. This disease was originally discovered during the 1970s, although it was believed that the virus was not dangerous to humans. However, a year-old child died of the disease in China in 1999.