BBC NEWS | Health | 1918 killer flu 'came from birds'

Didn't anybody ever read Stephen King's "The Stand"? Remember how, in the story, something like 94% of the world's population died in a matter of months because of a killer flu-like virus that escaped the confines of a government research facility? Okay, maybe I'm over-reacting a bit here.

As a history teacher I have, over the years, read quite a bit about the 1918 Pandemic. I know that scientists have been alarmed by that particular strain of influenza since the beginning and have gone to great lengths to try to recover tissue samples that contain the virus (even, according to one story, transporting Alaskan tissue samples on a commercial airliner). Scientists wanted the virus so they could make sure they could stop it.They have worked for years to make this discovery and it is truly a miracle of science ( and a lot of hard work). Still though, the virus is back. Will scientists continue to manipulate the genetic structure of the bug? What could they create?