Introduction: Darkness Visible

Abstract

In December 2011, a report appeared concerning the discovery of a new form of deadly flu virus. The H5N1 virus was first identified in Hong Kong in 1997 in poultry, and was so contagious that the government ordered the destruction of over a million birds in order to limit the outbreak. Though few humans were infected as a result of contact — only 18 within the first 12 months — that number grew to 600 in the ten years that followed, with a fatality rate of around 50 per cent.