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The l9l8 flu seemed to hit in two stages — a mild form in the spring of l9l8 and the deadly form later, in the fall. What was unique about this virulent organism that permitted it to kill so many with ease? Would it still be possible to isolate the l9l8 flu virus, decode it, and possibly use that information to develop immunizations that could protect us from future epidemics?

 It is this search for the virus that lends itself to Ms. Kolata’s first-rate story-telling. Lung samples from three people who died of the flu found their way to the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey K. Taubenberger of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, in Washington. One sample was from a 2l-year-old Army private who had died in Camp Jackson, S.C., on Sep. 26, l9l8. Shortly after his death, an Army doctor did an autopsy, cutting a slice of the victim’s lungs, impregnating it with formaldehyde, and embedding it in candle wax. Dr. Taubenberger found this sample in a federal storehouse in l966.

A second lung sample taken from another soldier who died that day was also found in a pathology warehouse.

But even more incredible was the isolation of the third sample of lung tissue. Its story comes in two parts. First, in l950, pathologist Dr. Johan V. Hultin, now 72 years old, was a young researcher in Iowa — and overheard another virologist say that the only way to find the l9l8 virus would be in the bodies of victims who were buried in ice — a permafrost ice that had never thawed since l9l8. Using Church records, he identified burial records in Alaskan villages and got permission in l95l to exhume bodies. He and his colleagues dug down in the ice and found perfectly frozen bodies; but, to his dismay, he simply did not have the sophisticated scientific tools necessary to identify the virus.

Fast forward the story to l997. Retired and living in San Francisco, Dr. Hultin read a scientific journal article by Dr. Taubenberger and began to speculate that molecular biology had advanced to the point that now it indeed might be possible to identify the virus — if they went back to the permafrost and dug up more frozen victims of the l9l8 flu. Again, he asked permission to dig — they had to dig much deeper now because the initial search in l95l had destroyed the integrity of some of the frozen corpses. He came upon the body of an obese woman who was particularly well preserved. He removed her lungs, and they had the virus. Using modern technology and the lab of Dr. Taubenberger, the analysis of the genetic puzzle of this deadly virus began.

Flu is an impressive, informative and sobering read. It is impressive because it is written by an accomplished journalist whose prose entices the reader to stay with her while she doggedly pursues this mystery. It is informative because it introduces us to real-life characters such as Drs. Hultin and Taubenberger, who had a pure dedication to finding this virus, no matter what it took. And it is sobering because scientists still do not have all the answers as to why the Virus of l9l8 killed millions — and if, when and where it might attempt to do so again.

Ms. Kolata leaves us with the comforting thought that if a similar flu did emerge again, we now have antibiotics that can kill the pneumonia-causing bacteria that overwhelmed the l9l8 victims and new drugs to lessen the effect of influenza infections. We have the option of making vaccines. But ultimately, she concludes, “vigilant surveillance” of emerging influenza agents is our best protection against “the most quotidian of infections.”

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