Look at this timeline from when birds get flu and cows go mad! by john diconsiglio. in 1918, the spanish flu killed 40 to 50 million people. in 1957, asian flu caused 70,000 deaths in the u s. in 1968, the hong kong flu killed 34,000 americans. in 1986, b s e was first diagnosed in britain. in 1996, the first human death from b s e was recorded. in 1997, in hong kong, bird flu was found in humans. in 2003, the first u s case of mad cow disease occurred. this timeline implies that another outbreak of flu is likely. flu outbreaks are a thing of the past. another outbreak will happen in asia. flu outbreaks mostly occur in europe.