@JollyWizard @KingOfWhiteAmerica @Zardoz @Shadowman311 @ThatWouldBeTelling ,.you could argue that the disease was actual an environmental poison, such as rf or pesticides, and that the viral particles are a byproduct, but then that theory applies to all flus.
I actually like this hypothesis more than I want to admit. It's basically like the plot to Deadspace, where some influence of tech causes a release of a certain thing present in our DNA. A lot of the big flus corresponded to major technological events, so it seems an interesting coincidence. Comets also have historical association with plagues and it could be RF related.