 of about a year. The virus has been identified as H1N1, a relation of H5N1, the strain of avian flu mutation now abroad across the world.
Because he died in Paris, Sir Mark was laid in a lead coffin, as required by protocol for shipping bodies from abroad. Virologists led by Professor John Oxford of Queen Mary, University of London believe that the lead casket may have preserved some of the best DNA samples of the bird flu of 1919 now available. Five other sets of samples have been acquired, but none as promising as Sir Mark's.
A court of the Diocese of York has given permission for exhumation of his remains under strict supervision, as has the Government. The family of the present baronet, Sir Mark's grandson, also Sir Tatton Sykes, have said yes. They live in Sledmere House, where Sir Mark built the wonderful Turkish Room, the finest example of late Ottoman decor in Britain today. The previous big house at Sledmere burned to a cinder in 1911, when Sir Mark's father refused to put the fire out until he had finished his pudding. |
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| Sir Mark was a friend of TE Lawrence, who doesn’t appear to have trusted him entirely |
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One of the most urgent problems for scientists is to discover how and when the virus in birds mutates to humans, where, then as now, it can often prove fatal. Epidemiologists say it's a matter of statistics, and have warned the Government to be prepared for a pandemic to strike soon.
If the early stages of the 1919 pandemic are anything to go by, 60 per cent of the nation's nurses will be disabled quite quickly, though not necessarily fatally, and 40 per cent of the armed forces, who are vital for ambulance driving and quarantine duties in such an emergency, will be incapacitated.
The trouble is, most of the Army is being used for continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there may not be enough soldiers left at home to cope in a big flu outbreak. Many medical and healthcare experts agree, it isn't a question of if, but when. 
FIRST POSTED MARCH 26, 2007
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