BBC News Online: Sci/Tech

Search for secrets of killer flu

The flu virus: New variations emerge each year

Scientists have applied to exhume the victims' bodies, in a bid to decode the bug's genetic make-up.

Studying fragments of the virus, a dangerous type A influenza strain, could help experts prepare for new outbreaks.

The last time a type A strain struck in Britain; 20,000, mainly elderly, people died.

Genetic clues

A team led by John Oxford, the UK Government's flu adviser, has identified 10 victims of the virus that were buried in lead coffins across London.

He believes their bodies may be so well preserved that researchers will be able to extract the virus.

Professor Oxford, of Queen Mary's School of Medicine, London, said there were opportunities using molecular biology to recreate the virus or at least look at its genetic make-up.

"We want to read the genes of the virus that killed 30 million people," he told BBC News Online, drawing a comparison with the work of the human genome project.

"If we can find a well-preserved body from someone who died of the Spanish flu in 1918, we could answer all sorts of questions," he added.

They do not expect to find the virus intact, he said, but it should have left its "footprint" in the patients' lungs.

This could help scientists understand the genetic nature of the virus and explain why it was so contagious.

Arctic quest

The quest is the latest in a worldwide search for clues to the 1918 flu pandemic.

Although the six men were buried in permafrost - soil that stays frozen all year round - their bodies were not as well preserved as had been hoped.

Professor Oxford thinks the answer could lie closer to home. The team is now trying to trace living relatives of those buried in London to get permission to exhume the bodies.

They also need authorisation from the Home Office and cemetery owners.