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Found this great diary excerpt of Spanish Flu researchers:

Sat, 20 Nov 1999

Update on the 1918 Spanish Flu project
undertaken in Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen in September 1998.
by Peter Lewin M.D., FI'79

Six Norwegian miners who died in 1918 of the Spanish influenza pandemic were exhumed. Although we had thought that these individuals were preserved frozen in the permafrost layer, they had over the years gradually been extruded from the permafrost and were found partially decomposed only a few feet from the surface.

We obtained over 100 tissue specimens from these individuals. Detailed virological studies undertaken in the United Kingdom have revealed no evidence of any live Influenza virus. However it can now be reported that Dr. Daniels at the Medical Research Council virological laboratories in London, one of our research team members has found evidence of numerous fragments of the Flu haemaglutini H1 gene. The isolated small RNA gene fragments seem to be different to that isolated from the US and Alaskan Spanish Flu Virus. It may be that there were two concurrent Pathogenic Flu viral infections in 1918. One North American and the other European possibly mutated from the later. RNA Viral fragments were found in two of the brains of the Spanish Flu Victims, and may be the first clue of the etiologic agent of encephalitis lethargica. This nervous condition developed in many Flu survivors and was associated with excessive sleep, behaviour disturbances and involuntary movements.

On going research will give us clues as to why the 1918 Flu Pandemic was so deadly, and lead to better vaccines and anti viral antibiotics to prevent such a scourge in the future.

Peter K.Lewin MD, FI79

August 16 - September, 1998

Peter Lewin M.D., FI'79 writes that the "Search for the Spanish
Flu" project, led by Canadian geographer Dr. Kirsty Duncan, is once again underway in Spitzbergen. The team, which includes medical archaeologist Dr. Lewin, is attempting to recover the bodies of seven miners who died of the "Spanish Flu" in the town of Longyearbyen in 1918. The bodies, which were buried in the permaforost, may contain intact and possible viable virus, which could once and for all confirm what infectious agent caused the terrible "Spanish Flu" epidemic. The agent is suspected to have been a very virulent form of Influenza.

Last year the team used ground penetrating radar to survey the graveyard and determine how deeply the bodies were buried, and hence what their probably state of preservation might be. The presence of the bodies within the Permafrost suggested that preservation would be good and plans were made to exhume the bodies and take tissue samples in the Fall of 1998. This stage of the expedition was written up by Malcolm Gladwell in the September 29th, 1997 issue of the New Yorker and by The Canadian Discovery Channel

The exhumation and sampling component of the project is expected to be successfully completed by the middle of September 1998. Although the bodies will not be thawed, the second stage of the project entails tremendous risk as the virus could still be viable in a frozen state. The researchers will wear Level IV containment suits and all necessary precautions will be taken to safeguard the samples. Large biopsy tubes will be screwed into the bodies and core samples taken of frozen tissue from lungs, throats and brains. The specimens will be transported under the strictest of isolation measures to Level 4 (Highest Level of Containment) Laboratories in the US, Norway and the UK and Canada. There detailed virological and bacteriological studies will be undertaken to characterize the agent, which caused from 20-40 million of deaths worldwide in 1918-19.

REPORT FROM THE FIELD
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 22:15:13 -0400
This is an update on our 1918 Flu project in Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen.

The second phase of our project was a great success with the discovery of the coffins and bodies of the seven young miners, who died in 1918 of the Spanish Flu.

The bodies were found only inches under the topsoil, and were notfrozen. They were partially decomposed and over 100 tissue and organ samples were taken for laboratory investigations.

The bodies over the years may have been gradually extruded from the permafrost, particularly in recent years with global warming. These factors are important as corpses of individuals who died many years ago with serious infectious disease like smallpox, may be extruded from the permafrost and become a serious public health problem in the future.

In the meantime our research group will be involved in a detailed virological study to characterize the 1918 Influenza Virus and possibly associated bacteria and other factors.

Our Project web site is: http://www.spanishflu.utoronto.ca/