FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Arizona scientists in Flagstaff are tracking the H1N1 flu to see whether it mutates into substrains and unleashes a second, more powerful wave of illness.

In the spring of 1918, no one worried too much about the so called “Spanish Flu” because it acted just like the normal flu.

But later that year a mutated strain started sweeping the globe, killing nearly 100 million people.

"Typically there's a second wave and maybe even a third wave and those tend to be more severe than the first wave," said David Engelthaler, from The Translational Genomics Research Institute.

Scientists at TGEN’s office in Flagstaff are looking closely at the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu.

The World Health Organization has declared the H1N1 outbreak as a global pandemic.

If the virus mutates and becomes more severe, TGEN wants to be able to change treatments as well.

"The era of the infectious disease is not over. In some cases we don't have drugs or vaccines, or they're becoming ineffective so we have to stay on top of that," said Engelthaler.

TGEN is already working with a small drug company to develop new anti-flu drugs. That's plan A.

But this kind of research and development takes time, and it might not be complete in time for next flu season.

So if the second wave of H1N1 really is worse, Engelthaler said there are no guarantees that we won't have to go to plan B.

"Those public health measures like shutting down schools and closing down places where people gather, those are all part of the plans if this thing becomes very serious and we don't have the drugs and vaccines to respond to it," he said.