Bird flu ravaged the world in 1918 when the epidemic (known then as the Spanish flu) spread from its origin in the US to countries throughout the world in only months. It claimed the lives of millions of people. Nobody knows exactly how many died, but estimates vary from 20 to 100 million. In some populations, half of those infected died. In all populations, the most affected were the young and healthy, rather than the victims one would expect: the old and very young.
The bird flu virus in 1918 was type H1N1 (named after the kind of surface proteins it has) and originated in birds. I don’t believe anyone seriously suspects this epidemic was released as a biological weapon in 1918, unless someone had a gripe against birds! The influenza virus was unknown in humans at this time, and nobody could have predicted the virulence the virus would have when it mutated to cross the species barrier.
Bird flu jumped the species barrier in 1918, mutating from a flu that affected only birds to one that affected humans. Once the mutation had occurred the virus spread extremely rapidly, even though mass transport was nowhere near as common in the early twentieth century as it is today. It is hard to see the point of releasing a biological weapon that is likely to infect people of every country equally.
Current fears are that the H5N1 bird flu affecting birds, including domestic chickens, in Asia might also jump the species barrier and mutate to a form that affects humans. So far, this has not happened, and even if a new pandemic does start, it is unlikely to be quite so virulent, because unlike the people of 1918, we have been exposed to the influenza viruses and are likely to have more immunity than they had then.
The bird flu virus continues to infect birds, especially aquatic species and domestic fowl, and is a perfectly natural phenomenon. The idea that it was released in 1918 as a biological weapon is simply ridiculous. If it has been released as one now, it is a miserable failure, and it is impossible to see how a biological weapon that is likely to affect the populations of every country to the same degree could be anything else.
Biological weapon? Absolutely not. Natural phenomenon? Of course.
