No matter what they called it, the virus attacked everyone similarly. It started like any other influenza case, with a sore throat, chills and fever. Then came the deadly twist: the virus ravaged its victim's lungs.Despite its name, researchers believe the Spanish flu most likely originated in the United States. One of the first recorded cases was on March 11, 1918, at Fort Riley in Kansas. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions created a fertile breeding ground for the virus. Within one week, 522 men had been admitted to the camp hospital suffering from the same severe influenza. Soon after, the army reported similar outbreaks in Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and California. Navy ships docked at East Coast ports also reported outbreaks of severe influenza and pneumonia among their crews. The flu seemed to target military personnel and not civilians, so the virus was largely overshadowed by hotter current affairs such as Prohibition, the suffragette movement and the bloody battles in Europe.

By May 1918, influenza began to subside in the United States. But the ordeal was by no means over. Soldiers at Fort Riley, now ready for battle, incubated the virus during their long, cramped voyage to France. Once they hit French shores, the virus exploded, striking the Allied forces and Central Powers with equal force. The Americans fell ill with "three-day fever" or "purple death." The French caught "purulent bronchitis." The Italians suffered "sand fly fever." German hospitals filled with victims of Blitzkatarrh or "Flanders fever."

What about a new, non-influenza virus, like the one that causes SARS? Would the world be able to cope with another flu pandemic? Yes, says Robert Webster, chief virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and an expert on influenza. He cites Taubenberger's pioneering work in developing new techniques for analyzing genetic changes in influenza viruses. His findings suggest that "should something like the Spanish flu return, today's flu drugs-Tamiflu, Flumadine, Symmetrel, and Relenza-would all be effective," Webster says, adding: "With today's technology to add to Taubenberger's results, drug companies could get a vaccine ready very quickly."

What about a new, non-influenza virus, like the one that causes SARS? "Quarantine and hygiene put the SARS virus back in the bottle," says Webster. "It would not have been possible to do so with an influenza. It would travel too fast to be contained by quarantine and hygiene alone."