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The 1957 flu pandemic

The flu pandemic which killed a million people in 1957, plus trees from Hiroshima and conflict in the Galapagos islands.

A new strain of flu emerged in East Asia in 1957 and spread all over the world. Known at the time as 鈥淎sian flu鈥, it killed more than a million people. We hear from a woman who survived the virus and speak to Mark Honigsbaum, author of The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria and Hubris. Plus, Indonesia鈥檚 transgender rights movement, the assassination of the UN鈥檚 first Middle East mediator, conflict in the Galapagos Islands, and the trees that survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

Photo: Americans worried about "Asian flu" wait their turns at Central Harlem District Health clinic in October 1957. Credit: Getty Images

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53 minutes

Last on

Mon 4 May 2020 23:06GMT

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  • Sat 2 May 2020 18:06GMT
  • Sun 3 May 2020 14:06GMT
  • Mon 4 May 2020 23:06GMT

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