Swine flu or H1N1
The 2009 swine flu caused by a new strain of H1N1 was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States of that year. In just a few weeks, the virus became uncontrollable and spread around the world, including in Africa and parts of Asia. Health officials swiftly responded and as the swine-flu pandemic ended in 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the death toll was about 18,500. An international group of scientists later indicated that the flu may have killed up to 203,000 people worldwide. Early on, there was the H5N1 strain of bird flu which began in late 2003, mainly in Southeast Asia where it ravaged poultry stocks before it transmitted to humans. It killed more than 400 people worldwide.
