History of Influenza Discovery: When Was It Identified?

The first recorded influenza pandemic was in 1580, when it spread across Europe and Asia, killing millions of people. However, the virus was not discovered until the 20th century. In 1933, British virologists Richard Shope and Patrick Laidlaw isolated the influenza A virus from pigs, and in 1940, American virologists Wendell Stanley and Charles Tanford isolated the influenza B virus from humans.