Influenza viruses have the potential to cause annual epidemics and occasional pandemics that can claim millions of lives. Point mutations and genetic rearrangements in the DNA cause the genomic content of Influenza viruses to change constantly. These changes in genomic content result in the development of new influenza strains with epidemic or pandemic potential (Neumann G, 2009). Pandemics are global disease outbreaks. Influenza virus pandemics are typically caused by the introduction of this HA subtype that is new to the human population. The pandemic potential of an influenza virus strain requires efficient human to human transmission. Prior to the Continue reading...