H5N1 Outbreak Triggered Ocean Cooling Pacific

Pandemic flu was related to climatic fluctuations. Recent studies have found links between the world's four most recent pandemic in the cooling cycle of the Pacific Ocean near the equator.

Changes in ocean temperature affect migrating birds, which is the main culprit in the spread and mixing of flu viruses. A previous study has linked outbreaks of the flu with ocean warming, not cooling.  

The analysis in previous studies relying on flawed data, such as a pandemic that has been obsolete records and climatic fluctuations that are less precise and not reliable.

The researchers found that four flu epidemic that swept the world in 100 years, namely in 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009 following the fall or winter, when the sea surface temperature is abnormally low. This cooling is associated with a wave of La Nina. La Nina is the opposite of El Niño is characterized by unusually warm temperatures in the equatorial Pacific and alter weather patterns worldwide.

There are three types of influenza viruses. One of them is of type A that is naturally carried by wild water birds. Virus type A or familiarly called swine flu can infect not only people, but also other mammals such as pigs, dogs, and other birds.

Long flight and a stopover by migratory birds that are changing the virus and allows it to hang out with other species.

This process is called re-assortment of the process that occurs when animals or people carry several strains of the virus and an exchange of genetic information. This can lead to the emergence of new viruses that could potentially cause a pandemic.

We know that a flu pandemic arising from changes in the influenza virus genes. Our hypothesis is that the La Niña provides the ideal atmosphere for these changes by mixing conditioned the birds that migrate, which is the main source of an outbreak of viral influenza.

Previous studies showed that neither El Nino nor La Nina affect the health and behavior of migratory birds, including population densities, and flight patterns persinggahannnya.

Pandemic in 2009 is believed to originate from swine flu virus. In a research report that was published the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers believe that the bird has brought one or more ancestors of the pandemic virus in 2009.