Pandemic. Part 2.

This two-part drama-documentary attempts to predict how the next influenza pandemic will hit us. The programme is based on the supposition that avian influenza H5N1 could potentially turn into a mutant humanised form of bird flu, become highly contagious and spread across the globe killing millions. In Part 2 we see the drama unfold as the virus leaves Asia and begins to spread in the Western world. We follow one fictional American family in particular who are strongly affected and a fictional UK family describe the loss of their young daughter. In between the dramatic scenes the factual element of the programme explains exactly what the virus would do to the body and explores the possibilities of vaccination. Sir John Oxford draws a link between the 1918 influenza epidemic and encephalitis lethargica (sleeping sickness).