History tends to repeat itself. Just one century ago, the 1918 Spanish flu killed 50 million people, followed by several flu epidemics with the most recent 2009 swine flu. Another global flu epidemic will strike again, we just do not know when and how severe it will be, and we are far from ready. We have learned much about influenza virus, we have even resurrected the H1N1 influenza virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic. We know the animal reservoirs of influenza virus, we have influenza vaccines to curb seasonal flu, we have antiviral drugs to treat influenza virus infection. Yet, our flu vaccines often mismatch the circulating influenza strains, influenza viruses often quickly develop resistance to the drugs we have. MCVD is committed to monitoring the species transmission of influenza virus, its evolution in humans, discovering universal flu vaccines that are effective against the majority of influenza virus strains, thus preparing for the coming flu epidemic. MCVD is committed to meet these challenges and discover solutions through research.
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