Editing Pandemic (section)

==== Influenza ====
{{Main|Influenza pandemic}}[[File:Barack Obama being briefed on swine flu oubreak 4-29.jpg|thumb|President [[Barack Obama]] is briefed in the Situation Room about the [[2009 swine flu pandemic|2009 flu pandemic]], which killed as many as 17,000 Americans.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 February 2010 |title=Swine flu has killed up to 17,000 in U.S.: report |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-flu-usa/swine-flu-has-killed-up-to-17000-in-u-s-report-idUSN1223579720100212}}</ref>]][[Influenza]] was first described by the Greek physician [[Hippocrates]] in 412{{nbsp}}BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=50 Years of Influenza Surveillance |url=http://who.int/inf-pr-1999/en/pr99-11.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501165850/http://www.who.int/inf-pr-1999/en/pr99-11.html |archive-date=1 May 2009 |work=World Health Organization}}</ref> Since the Middle Ages, influenza pandemics have been recorded every 10 to 30 years as the virus mutates to evade immunity.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Potter CW |date=October 2001 |title=A history of influenza |journal=Journal of Applied Microbiology |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=572–579 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2672.2001.01492.x |pmid=11576290 |s2cid=26392163 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 December 2022 |title=How Flu Viruses Can Change |url=https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/change.htm |access-date=12 July 2023 |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}}</ref>

Influenza is an [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic disease]], with a fairly constant number of cases which vary seasonally and can, to a certain extent, be predicted.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 May 2023 |title=Key Facts About Influenza (Flu) |url=https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/keyfacts.htm |access-date=12 July 2023 |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}}</ref> In a typical year, 5–15% of the population contracts influenza. There are 3–5 million severe cases annually, with up to 650,000 respiratory-related deaths globally each year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Influenza (Seasonal) |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/influenza-(seasonal) |access-date=12 July 2023 |website=World Health Organization }}</ref> The [[1889–1890 pandemic]] is estimated to have caused around a million fatalities,<ref name="Shally-Jensen_2010">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues |date=2010 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-0-31339205-4 | veditors = Shally-Jensen M |volume=2 |page=1510 |chapter=Influenza |quote=The Asiatic flu killed roughly one million individuals |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjKWfAz0tx4C&pg=PA1510}}</ref> and the "[[Spanish flu]]" of 1918–1920 eventually infected about one-third of the [[world's population]] and caused an estimated 50{{nbsp}}million fatalities.<ref name="Taubenberger" />

The [[Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System]] is a global network of laboratories that has for purpose to monitor the spread of [[influenza]] with the aim to provide WHO with influenza control information.<ref name="Fange">{{cite book | vauthors = Lee K, Fang J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zCEmpopjG0C&dq=%22WHO%22+%22GISRS+is+a%22&pg=PA163 |title=Historical Dictionary of the World Health Organization |year=2013 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780810878587}}</ref> More than two million respiratory specimens are tested by GISRS annually to monitor the spread and evolution of influenza viruses through a network of about 150 laboratories in 114 countries representing 91% of the world's population.<ref name="Leveraging">{{cite journal | vauthors = Broor S, Campbell H, Hirve S, Hague S, Jackson S, Moen A, Nair H, Palekar R, Rajatonirina S, Smith PG, Venter M, Wairagkar N, Zambon M, Ziegler T, Zhang W | display-authors = 6 | title = Leveraging the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System for global respiratory syncytial virus surveillance-opportunities and challenges | journal = Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses | volume = 14 | issue = 6 | pages = 622–629 | date = November 2020 | pmid = 31444997 | pmc = 7578328 | doi = 10.1111/irv.12672 | doi-access = free }}{{CC-notice|by4|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/irv.12672}}</ref>